354 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



doesn't touch in the same way, so nothing is 

 said. But try to take away T supers, and then 

 you'll hear something. 



You will probably say I'm prejudiced. Why 

 sjiouldlbe? I've changed before; and unless 

 I should die young I expect to change again. I 

 am on the lookout for something better than 

 the T super, and then I'll change to that. But 

 it will hardly be the section-holder, for I have 

 tried that and don't know of a single feature it 

 has better than the T super. Can you name 

 one? Now, instead of its being all prejudice 

 that makes some stubbornly hold on to the T 

 super, is it not possible there is some prejudice 

 on your part? While giving you credit for none 

 but the best of motives, I sincerely believe you 

 are misleading those who look to you for guid- 

 ance, and using your powerful influence in fa- 

 vor of an inferior article. 



And now that I've made a good deal longer 

 introduction than you did, I'll answer your 

 question. Let us look at the 

 points in the T tin proposed on 

 page 21.T. Friend Anthony says, 



( " v2 "The points 2, 3 wouldn't form 



^ cutting edges for hands and fin- 



gers, and would never become bent out of shape 

 as much as the old kind do." I've no trouble 

 with their bending outof shape with fair usage, 

 and the duller edge would be had at the expense 

 of nearly .50 per cent more tin; and, worse still, 

 it would perceptibly raise the sections, making 

 a larger space between top-bars and sections, 

 and the bees would do a worse job of propolizing 

 on this rounded edge than on the sharp edge of 

 single thickness. 



He thinks it would be a good thing to avoid 

 " the rounding at the point 1 " and have the 

 sharp edge of the tin there. Well, my first T 

 tins were all made that way, and I am still us- 

 ing them by the hundred. An objection to 

 them is, that the sharp point 1 catches on the 

 sections as you put them in the super, especial- 

 ly the last sections. There is much less trouble 

 about the section catching on the rounded 

 edge. 



Now to come directly to your question, " Is a 

 thickness of ^ any worse than g'j?" Not a bit. 

 It's just as easy, and a little easier, to close the 

 larger space, for a thin piece hasn't as much 

 stiffness to allow its being wedged in. You 

 say, " If we could reduce it to nothing it would 

 be desirable." No, it wouldn't, begging your 

 pardon. Try once tilling sections in a super 

 where there is no play ; and if you've quit 

 swearing, there may be danger of a relapse. I 

 want full ^g" of an inch play, then the three lit- 

 tle top separators }{ inch wide, and a shade less 

 than 3^ thick, can be forced in and make a snug 

 fit that would be utterly impossible with no 

 play whatever. Whoever tries the two kinds of 

 T tins side by side will, I think, prefer them as 

 the Roots now make them. 



Marengo, 111. 



[Your paraphrase of the quotation from my 

 footnote does not quite give it as I would have 

 said it if 1 had been enlarging upon it. T 

 supers formerly had the lead; but they were 

 not very well adapted to the Dovetailed hive, 

 without making supers of different lengths 

 from the regular hive- body. As the single-tier 

 wide frame was very popular, and is now, and 

 probably always will be, and as it seemed to 

 have all the advantages of theT-super arrange- 

 ment, and some peculiar to itself, we adopted 

 ii, but left otf the top-bar. This omission, we 

 find, had been begun by others before us. We 

 give customers the option of the two kinds of 

 super; but if they do not know what they want, 

 we recommend the section-holder arrange- 

 ment. We boomed the T-super arrangement 

 in our 1895 catalog harder than ever, putting in 

 a nice wood cut. But our packers hardly know 

 what it is. 



You ask me to give the names of those who 

 have thrown aside T supers for section-holders. 

 This 1 can not do. Why? I can best answer 

 by making a quotation from your article above, 

 wherein you say, *' I do not expect to buy an- 

 other T super as long as I live." The reason 

 is, you have enough for your requirements, and 

 you could not afford to throw them away for 

 something perhaps slightly better. Now, then, 

 if there ax"e hundreds of other T-super men in 

 the same fix, it is not likely they will discard 

 their arrangement for the section- holder de- 

 vice; but we have had in times past a good 

 many letters stating that they preferred the 

 section-holders to the old T supers, but could 

 not change for the reasons already given. I 

 could not give you the names, because I was 

 not then interested, and did not preserve them. 

 The fact is, doctor, you have become accustom- 

 ed to the T super (and it certainly is one of the 

 very best arrangements), and your habits of 

 working fit it better than any thing else. I 

 have said before, there is a good deal in get- 

 ting used to a thing. For instance. I know of 

 some women who would not change their old 

 cook -stoves, true and tried, for ail the neAv- 

 fangled stoves in the market. They have be- 

 come accustomed to them, and know just how 

 far they can go without burning their bread. 

 They have become used to the swing of the 

 doors, the position of the reservoir, the han- 

 dling of the griddles, and yet nine judges out of 

 ten would say their old stoves were very much 

 inferior to the new ones. There, doctor, I do 

 not mean to say you are an old fogy, and have 

 become wedded to your old arrangement; but 

 honestly now, doesn't the stove illustration 

 partly fit your situation ?— Ed.] 



MORE QUEENS SAFELY TO AUSTRALIA. 



I beg to announce the safe arrival of the two 

 queens by September mall. 1 sliould have written 

 you before, but I have been very busy. All the 

 bees except the queen were dead Iti one cage; queen 

 and all tlie bees alive in the other. Candy was In a 

 good state of preservation. Bees commenced comb- 

 building: in the one all were alive in. My friend 

 Edmunds informs me to-day that two out of three 

 queens forwarded to him arrived all safe on the 16th 

 of this month, so that you are much more success- 

 ful this year than last, in so far as this district is 

 concerned. I find your queens and progeny pro- 

 duce splendid honey-gatherers, besides being very 

 gentle and prolific — all the advantages required by 

 any bee-keeper. Your queens should command 

 ready sale. It seems all that is required is safe 

 mailing to Australia, when no doubt you would ob- 

 tain many orders from Australian bee-keepers. 



Jno. Gardner. 



Hurstville, Sydney, N. S. W.. Oct. 27. 



