98 



THE BEE-KEEPERS- iiU\/. 



Doolittle's system of lateral and top storing 

 for securing comb honey. Mr. Doolittle has 

 made a great success with this system. 

 When the bees winter well it is not diffi- 

 cult to secure a good crop of honey when 

 conditions are favorable, but the test of 

 skill comes when the conditions are unfav- 

 orable. Nature adapts herself to all con- 

 ditions. So should we, not letting any pre- 

 conceived notions stand in the way of find- 

 ing out the best methods to secure success. 

 To paraphrase the words of St. Paul; " First 

 proving all things and holding fast to that 

 which is good. " 



Practical experience during poor honey 

 seasons, which have been the rule generally, 

 I think, throughout our country, for a num- 

 ber of years back, has convinced me that 

 sections used with separators should not be 

 wider than " seven to the foot" sections. 

 When no separators are used, one and five- 

 eights inches is wide enough for them. In 

 poor seasons the bees are apt to thin the 

 combs during the latter part of the harvest, 

 giving the sections a mean appearance, I am 

 satisfied that the narrower sections give 

 more finished sections and a greater amount 

 of marketable honey. For these reasons I 

 no longer use sections wider than those 

 ' seven to the foot. " 



Everyone that has used sections without 

 separators is aware how much plumper the 

 sections look when filled, than when separa- 

 tors are used. Such sections are more 

 attractive to buyers than the others. Now, 

 since separators are becoming more of a 

 necessity, it appears to me that bee-keep- 

 ers should try and find out if there is not a 

 practicable way to secure as plump sections 

 of honey with separators as without them. 

 To get such plump sections it will be nec- 

 essary either to place the sections the proper 

 distance back from the separators so as to 

 get the combs built closer to the edges of the 

 section side pieces, or else to use separators 

 with ridges on them of proper height for the 

 section side-pieces to come in contact with 

 so as to put a part of the bee-space in front 

 of each comb within the separator. Wood 

 separators cut away so as to form the proper 

 spaces and ridges might answer the purpose, 

 but they would cost more than the common 

 separators. Paper dipped in paraffine is 

 being used as separators and it is possible 

 that ridged separators could be made of 

 paper pulp under great pressure that would 

 be better than anything else. The ridging 



on the ends of ridged separators could be 

 extended to their extreme ends and the up- 

 rights of hanging wide frames so as to give 

 open corners throughout the whole length 

 of each frame and into the bee-space at the 

 ends Of the supers, thereby encouraging the 

 bees, not only to complete the combs more 

 perfectly in each section, but also to build 

 them more evenly from end to end of each 

 frame. I do not think that cleating of the 

 separators could be made practical because 

 the cleats would have to be quite thin and 

 narrow. It would be no easy matter to fast- 

 en them to the separators and keep them 

 attached. When there is bee space within 

 the separators the sections should be corres- 

 pondingly narrower. 



White House Sta, N. J. Mar. 18, 1897. 



Bee-Keepers' Review. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. Editor and ProDrietor. 



Terms : — $1.00 a year in advanco. Two copies 

 $1.90 ; three for $2.70 ; five for $4.00 ; ton or more, 

 T.') cents each. If it is desired to have the Revisw 

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 please say so when subscribing, otherwise, it 

 will be continued. 



FLINT. MICHIGAN. APR. 10. 1897. 



THE WEED, DEEP-CELL FOUNDATION. 



The April issue of the Progressive Bee- 

 Keeper is almost wholly devoted to a dis- 

 cussion, or, rather, to a condemnation, of 

 the Weed-Root, deep-cell foundation. 

 Some of its writers go so far as to call the 

 use of such foundation or comb an adulter- 

 ation of comb honey. Others regard it as 

 a big step towards what has always been re- 

 garded as an impossibility, viz., the making 

 of artificial comb honey. Once an artificial 

 comb can be made, it is thought that the 

 filling and sealing of them will be eventual- 

 ly accomplished — and the bee and its keep- 

 er find their occupation gone. Again it is 

 urged that even if it should prove a success 

 and its use not a detriment to the quality of 

 the honey, it would only lessen the cost of 

 honey and this in turn would lower the 

 price, hence it would be no advantage. But 

 this same objection might be urged against 

 all improvements. Comb foundation can 

 be condemned upon the same ground. 

 The greatest good to the greatest number 



