458 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



such things as artificial eggs that would hatch 

 chickens without feathers. 



Food -laws are being enacted in nearly all 

 States, and old laws are being better enforced; 

 and while I admit there is a chance for great 

 improvement along the line of more and better 

 laws in all States, and better enforcement, 1 do 

 not — can not — believe that adulteration is so 

 rife as set forth in your first paragraph. 



There is no doubt that adulteration is doing 

 its work in reducing the price and in cutting 

 down the production of honey, and bee-keepers 

 need to organize in some form of exchange or 

 union to battle with these evils. If our present 

 Union can be reorganized so as to become a de- 

 liberative body with annual meetings, and if, 

 too, in some way it can be made to turn its gun 

 (S700) toward our legislative halls for new and 

 better laws with provisions for their enforce- 

 ment, then bee-keepers can do something be- 

 sides talk, talk, talk. The defense feature in 

 the old Union is a dead issue, or ought to be. 

 What we need is some work done to put down 

 adulteration. 



Regarding the matter of enforcement, it is 

 difficult, as you say, to secure convictions ; but 

 if the State provides or will provide a fund so 

 that officers are paid to hunt up evidence, con- 

 victions will follow.— Ed ] 



THE VALUE OF DRAWN COMBS IN SECTIONS. 



TWO STAKTEKS, AND HOW LAEGE TO CUT THEM. 

 A TIMELY AND VALUABLE ARTICLE. 



By B. Taylor. 



In reply to the questions of Deans & Merrill 

 I will explain that the chief reason for using 

 two pieces of foundation in each section is, 

 that thereby we can induce the bees to build 

 the combs solid to the bottom as well as the 

 tops of the sections. When a single full sheet 

 is used, the pieces must not come nearer than 

 }4 inch of the bottom of the section, because 

 the foundation stretches as the bees work it 

 out; and if the pieces come near or touch the 

 bottom there would be no room for it to stretch; 

 yet, settle it would; and to find room it would 

 buckle to one side and make the surface of the 

 honey untrue. I now have all my comb honey 

 built solid to all parts of the sections. The 

 comb is finished to about >$ inch from the edges 

 of the sections, and sealed solid clear up to the 

 wood; and the surface of the comb is as smooth 

 and true as a planed board. I do it by using 

 full sheets of foundation in two pieces, in con- 

 nection with narrow sections (1}4 inches), and 

 the handy slotted and cleated separators; and 

 the three means here mentioned are all vital if 

 we are to be certain to have perfect work. 



Section honey produced in this way not only 

 looks extremely nice, but, if crated and packed 

 properly, it may be shipped by freight in 100- 

 pound lots or over, with the greatest safety. 

 Now, mind you, this fine finished honey does 

 not cost one farthing more to produce than the 

 miserable, ragged, half-sealed stuff that is to be 

 found in every city and country store. It is 

 true, the handy slotted separators cost each 



more than common tin or wood ones; but as I 

 use only three of them in a 24-section T case, 

 and as a set of them will, if made as my own 

 are, and used with proper care, last a lifetime, 

 they are cheaper than those in common use in 

 the end. 



Some bee-keepers use and argue for starters 

 of foundation in sections because of the cost of 

 full sheets. I never count the cost of produc- 

 ing a crop of honey except in connection with 

 the profits. If, at the end of the season, the 

 balance is on the right side of the ledger, I care 

 not for outlay; and, friends, I will here tell 

 you that old stingy cheap ways of doing things 

 are past, never to return. I shall use more than 

 1100 worth of sugar in my apiary this season, 

 and I expect to produce gilt-edged honey at 

 less cost than old-fashioned cost-fearing bee- 

 keepers will produce their poor goods. 



In using two pieces of foundation I cut the 

 bottom piece 3}< inches long for 4J^ sections 

 and }4 inch wide; and I prefer heavy founda- 

 tion for these bottom pieces, so it will not lop 

 over when warm. The top piece is cut the 

 same length, and wide enough to come X inch 

 from the bottom piece. This is necessary to 

 give the top piece room to stretch in working 

 out; and I fasten the foundation with melted 

 wax in a way that it is sure to stick, and exact- 

 ly in the center of the section. 



Before closing this article I must say a word 

 in regard to the importance of sections of 

 drawn combs in securing the white honey in 

 sections. In that splendid article of W. Z. 

 Hutchinson's, on " Producing Comb Honey," in 

 the American Bee Journal for April 16, 1896, 

 he says : 



If the flow should open very suddenly, or, at 

 least, become very profuse soon after it opens, 

 sheets of foundation in tlie sectioos may be as good 

 as drawn combs; but when it comes on gradually, 

 drawn combs, or, at least, a few sections of such in 

 each super as "bait," as it is called, are a decided 

 advantage. If I could have my choice, however, I 

 should hf glad to have all of the sections in the first 

 super filled with drawn, or partly drawn, combs. I 

 have seen seasons in which I was well satisfied that 

 a case of partly drawn sections of comb to give a 

 'colony at first meant just one more case of finished 

 honey. A colonj- given a case of combs would have 

 those combs filled, and be commenced upon a sec- 

 ond case of sections by the time that a colony given 

 simply foundation had made a start. This differ- 

 ence is more noticeable witli Italians than with 

 blacks. The Italians cling to the brood-nest until 

 actually forced out of it. If a bee hatches, and the 

 queen doesn't stand ready to put in an egg, it is 

 quite likely to be filled with honey. Give such a 

 colony a case of sections filled with partly drawn 

 combs, and the bees will store honey in the combs 

 just about as readily as in the corubs below— a long 

 time before they will draw out foundation in the 

 sections. Combs in the sections relieve the pres- 

 sure upon the brood-nest. More brood is the result. 

 Yes, and it starts the bees to storing above the 

 brood-nest, and, having made a start, they are sure 

 to continue it. Considering tiie value of drawn 

 combs for this purpose, I should not try. to any 

 great extent, to restrict the number of unfinished 

 sections at the end of the season. 



While I regard Mr. H.'s article as a whole as 

 one of the best that has ever appeared on pro- 

 ducing comb honey, yet I am quite sure he has 



