518 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



horizontal edges of the section, not scoi-ed out 

 for bee-ways. This, taken in connection with 

 compression by means of a follower-board and 

 wedge, closes up all little spaces; and the con- 

 sequence is, the edges of the sections are prac- 

 tically free from propolis-stains, and do not 

 therefore require scraping to the same extent 

 that .sections do from T supers. Indeed, there 

 is no comparison, This is no theory. The 

 honey we buy, produced in section-holders, 

 looks better, so far as the propolized edges are 

 concerned, than that produced in T supers. I 

 can (or think I can) spot a T-super section 

 every time. This compression idea I got from 

 Mr. Manum, in Vermont, and from some other 

 practical bee-keepers in York State, while on 

 my first bicycle-tour. When I arrived home I 

 incorporated it in the section-holder device as 

 as soon as possible. 



.5. The great mass of bee-keepers (and that 

 means, I think, the great majority) do not 

 scrape the sections before putting on the mar- 

 ket. Now. I do not guess or think, hutknow, 

 that filled sections from section-holders with 

 wide wood separators, and compression, present 

 a far cleaner appearance, so far as propolis is 

 concerned, than do those from T supers. Our 

 position as buyers of comb honey, from all 

 over the country, from large and small pro- 

 ducers, places me in a position where I know 

 whereof I speak. 



6. Again, T supers require some rather nice 

 or complicated methods of emptying them out 

 — see our ABC. and Year Among the Bees. 

 The section-holder arrangement maybe emp- 

 tied by simply removing a wedge or tightening- 

 strip. and then all are practically loose. By 

 turning the section -holder upside down, and 

 pressing the two thumbs near the center, all 

 propolis connections are broken, and the sec- 

 tions are loose. The manner of emptying sec- 

 tions out of section-holders is self-evident: but 

 out of T supers is not so evidi^nt— at least, it 

 has been necessary to have nice engravings 

 made, showing each step: and as good and 

 clear a writer as the author of " A Year Among 

 the Bees " did not make his plan of accomplish- 

 ing the result plain to me without photos. 



No. sir. Dr. Miller, there are hundreds of bee- 

 keepers who would prefer the section-holder 

 arrangement for the reasons I have given 

 above. It is able to stand on its own bottom; 

 and if what I have said by way of comparison 

 is true — and I am sure there are lots of bee- 

 keepers who will back me in this — we are per- 

 fectly justified in saving what we firmly be- 

 lieve, that the section-holder arrangement is 

 better. You evidently feel that T do not think 

 the section -holder is quite as good as the the T 

 super, and that, because of the mechanical con- 

 venience we boom it in preference to the other, 

 and for no other reason. 



As to the matter of looks in the T super, 

 there is not one customer in a hundred who 

 would accept it if the cleats were all on one end 

 as you suggest. The outside cleats on both 

 ends are intended in lieu of hand-holes, and for 

 the purpose of giving a symmetrical and finished 

 appearance to the super when placed up on a 

 hive of greater length. 



You ask if I don't know that you are accus- 

 tomed to the wide frames, and that your habits 

 of working fitted them. Let me ask another 

 question. Are you accustomed to the section- 

 holder, and do your habits of working fit them? 

 Y^ou are accustomed to handling hundreds and 

 hundreds of T supers against five or six of the 

 section-holder arrangements. How can you 

 fairly appreciate the section-holder. 



This is a question that could be argued a 

 good deal; but the individual preference, and 

 that old bone, "habits of working," will keep 



those that have been using the one and the 

 other largely in the line that they have been 

 accustomed to. Now, doctor, don't you inti- 

 mate again, that we recommend the section- 

 holder because, perhaps, from a mechanical 

 point of view, it may be more conveninnt, or — 

 or — I'll jump on that '"bike" for Marengo, 

 and, arriving there, " talk it out " or chuck you 

 in that stove that you are saving for me. — Ed. J 



^»^*«*^^ 



CALIFORNIA ECHOES. 



By Rambler. 



" Overeating shortens a man's life." So says 

 truthful Dr. Stray Straws. And why does a 

 man overeat? The dear well-meaning cherub 

 who engineers the cook-stove thinks her " hub- 

 by " must have all the fancy dishes going- 

 spiced, larded, sweetened, frosted; and the poor 

 stomach, unless of cast-iron qualities, soon 

 breaks down. 



Now, I will go you one better. Dr. M. Half 

 of the modern cooking is a waste of time and 

 material, and a delusion and a snare. Remedy 

 — come out to California, and bach on a bee- 

 ranch, where you can cook your own Aunt 

 Sally pancakes, lunch on crackers and cheese, 

 and dyspepsia will fly away. 



We are glad to note two arrivals of bee-men 

 who propose to make California their future 

 home — the Hon. J. M. Hambaugh of Illinois, 

 and Mr. H. Y. Douglass, of Texas. The latter 

 thinks California has charms even greater than 

 the much-lauded Lone Star State. Well, he is 

 not the only one to entertain such ideas. 



Mr. G. K. Hubbard, of Riverside, Cal., has 

 produced over one ton of orange-blossom hon- 

 ey. It is a strictly fancy article, neatly labeled 

 with labels from the " Home of the Honey- 

 bees. There is no slipshod management about 

 Mr. Hubbard's apiary, and a few more such ex- 

 pert bee-keepers would have a marked in- 

 fluence upon the value of our products in the 

 markets. 



The California honey-yield will not be so 

 large as the opening of the season warranted 

 us to expect. The greater portion of the month 

 of May was cool and foggy. The flowers were 

 abundant, but the elements were against the 

 secretion of nectar, and also against the free 

 working of the bees to secure the nectar secret- 

 ed. The honey already secured is of fine quali- 

 ty, water-white, and well ripened. There will 

 be many carloads to ship, but we predict that 

 the yield as a whole will not be as large as it 

 was in 1893. Many considered the yield then 

 as only a half crop. 



After studying every phase of the Heddon- 

 Danzenbaker controversy I have come to the 

 conclusion that Mr. Heddon ought to pay 

 Danzenbaker a fair sum for inventing a hive. 

 The D. hive will probably not cut much of a 

 figure against the H. patent. Its chief utility 

 so far consists in being a good advertisement 

 for the latter, and good advertising should be 

 paid for. 



