1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



401 



better after trying how he will like the pro- 

 posed change, but I'm not sure there will be 

 any real gain. If I am not mistaken, the main 

 thing he is after is to have the sections crowded 

 close together end to end, so there shall be no 

 space between them. That, of course, is to 

 avoid the crack for bee-glue. Now, there can 

 be no advantage in that over the plan of hav- 

 ing the little top separators crowded between 

 the sections; for what difference can it make 

 to a section whether it is crowded tight against 

 another section or against another piece of 

 wood? But it may be more satisfactory to 

 him to put the matter to actual test. 



At A is shown the close fit between two sec- 

 tions, and at B the top separator between. If 

 they are crowded equally tight together, what 

 chance is there for bee-glue in one case more 

 than another? C.C.Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



[The following is the reply by Mr. Anthony. 

 The experience that I have had personally with 

 T supers inclines me to agree with Dr. M. 

 rather than with Mr. A.] 



Mr. _Root;— Really I think the doctor must 

 have been sleepy when he replied to the last 

 article of mine. I did not mean we should 

 change the length of the L. frame to accommo- 

 date the super. I only said, " Let us suppose 

 our frame is 17 inches long." I did that hoping 

 that E. R. Root would notice it as one point in 

 favor of a shorter frame, as he had somewhat 

 expressed himself as wanting to hear from me 

 on the subject of hives, and because my own 

 brood-frame is just that long. 



I think if any one would try to find the cause 

 for the 4}4x4:}4 section coming so largely into 

 use, the first and principal reason would be on 

 account of the length of the L. frame. The 

 doctor says there can be no advantage over 

 having little top separators between sections, 

 and that there would be no diflference between 

 a section crowded against a section, or one 

 section against anotlier piece of wood. He for- 

 got that we were making the super suitable 

 for open-side as well as closed sections. Sep- 

 arator stuff closed the opening along the top of 

 sections; but with the open-side sections there 

 will be all that space under the separator stuff 

 and over the T tins to be filled with propolis. 



Mr. Root thinks that the T super is so little 

 used now that the subject might as well be 

 dropped. I am sorry that he thinks so. Almost 

 all' living kind seems to have its leader or au- 

 thority to look to, and it is right. It is in E. R. 

 Root's hands that most of the responsibility 

 lies as to what shall be adopted by the bee- 

 keepers of the United States. But very few 

 people are capable of making the wisest choice 

 as to what is best for them to use; and some of 



the few who are, prefer to use what the rest do, 

 so as to be in good company. It only wants 

 Mr. Root's sanction, and in three years it will 

 be all the go. If Mr. Root would only give the 

 matter a little close attention, and call others' 

 attention to it, I think they would realize the 

 value of its simplicity, its cheapness, and 

 adaptability to the different widths of sections 

 that people want. 



If formed as I have advocated, I am sure 

 they could put in and take out sections quicker 

 and easier than in other supers of this day. 

 The one great necessity is to have one and the 

 same thing fill the wants of all. I have seen 

 the time when I was out of sections, and could 

 have bought of a neighbor bee-keeper; but his 

 width of sections would not fit my supers. 

 Also the time when I could have accommodat- 

 ed my neighbors had it not been for the same 

 difficulty. 



Looking around us at other things, we see 

 that the wheels of all vehicles run in the 

 same rut; all locomotives on the same track; 

 all axes fit the same handle: all kettles 

 fit the different stoves; plows turn the same 

 furrow, and machine after machine goes the 

 same round in the field. Progress must have 

 its way; and to look in the same line down to 

 this very year we find the Columbia bicycle 

 folks coming out with a pump-and-valve at- 

 tachment that fits other wheels and what is 

 coming to be the standard. And so should bee- 

 fixtures have the same combined fitness that is 

 found in other things in these more modern 

 days. A. B. Anthony. 



Coleta, 111., April 17. 



[Now, friend A., you intimate that whatever 

 I push will surely " go." I plead guilty to hav- 

 ing started the use of some new implements; but 

 these are implements of real merit. I have 

 tried to push some other things that did not 

 go that I thought had real merit. I think the 

 Pratt automatic hiver, for instance, under cer- 

 tain circumstances, might prove a valuable 

 assistant in the apiary, and it did indeed do 

 well for us. I pushed it in the catalog and in 

 the journal; but it did not go at all. And, 

 again, inasmuch as yourself. Dr. Miller, and 

 some others, think the T super should not be 

 crowded out of sight, we have put in our cata- 

 log a better illustration, and improved it so it 

 can be used on the Dovetailed hive, and yet 

 take 4>4^ sections. Here is the cut. 



By cleating the ends, shorter frames are un- 

 necessary; so also are handholes. Well, al- 

 though we have given it more prominence, and 

 improved it so that it leaves nothing to be de- 



