188.5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUJ/IUKE. 



47. 



hands of one who is old and experienced, it 

 offers advantages that it seems to me we can 

 not very well do without. Prof. Cook gave 

 us a happy summing-up of the advantages 

 and disadvantages. I did not take it all 

 down, neither did any of the reporters, so 

 far as I have been able to discover. Prof. 

 Cook's strongest point was, perhaps, that by 

 means of a reversible frame we can tlirow 

 nearly all of the eaily white honey, clover 

 and linden for instance, into section boxes, 

 where it will command a price that will en- 

 able us to buy sugar two or three limes 

 over ; and 1 was glad to hear Prof. Cook en- 

 dorse the position I took so many years ago, 

 that a pound of sugar would go further than 

 a pound of honey, for wintering bees, and is 

 at the same time much more wholesome. 

 Reversible frames are destined to become 

 largely used the coming season. A very 

 practicable device is given in another col- 

 umn, and we will try to give engravings of 

 it in our next issue. 



WIDTH OF SECTIONS. 



There seems to be a pretty general agree- 

 ment, that where we wish to dispense witii 

 separators, the sections should be narrower 

 than where separators are used. A width of 

 section so that seven placed side by side 

 will measure a foot across seems t() have 

 given good results. 



SIZE OK SI<:CTIONS. 



The tendency was very strongly in favor 

 of the one-pound sections, 4i x -ii. the size I 

 decided upon ycais ago. so that eight woidd 

 go inside <if ;i Langslrdth frame. ' Tiie ten- 

 dency in .Michigan is (juite stiong, however, 

 to abandon the idea of jjutting sections into 

 frames at all. Setting them over the brood- 

 nest in a case gives about as much honey, if 

 properly handled, and is much less trouble ; 

 that is, those at the convention, i.s a rule, 

 seemed to think so. 



rsiNO A irONEY-lJOAItD INDI 11 llll': (ASK 

 OF SECTIONS. 



It seems to me a little fui.ny to think 

 that bee-keepeis are almost in Dxtio'e now 

 going back to the old discarded L. honey- 

 board, will) its bee-space under it. One ()f 

 the principal claims in tlie Eangstroth 

 patent was this S inch over the fr;unes, for a 

 bee-space ; and for years we have thought it 

 was a hindrance ; but now. instead of lliiidv- 

 ing this I inch to be a waste of si)aco. two 

 bee-spaces are given— one under the honey- 

 board, and one above it. During the coii- 

 vention it was made plain to me for the lirst 

 time, why peojjle wanted this honey-board : 

 and the reason seems to be this : The bees 

 will build bri(ig(>-tombs from the top of tlie 

 brood-frames to the honey-boaid. We all 

 know this, and some of us to our s(>rrow. 

 Well, a great many assured me, and Prof. 

 Cook among tlie nunilier, tliat alter having 

 tilled the first bee-spiice with bits of comb 

 the bees seem satislied. and did not i)ut any 

 comb and bits of wax between the top of the 

 honey-board and the sections ])laced in a 

 case right over the honey-board. In fact, a 

 case of sections so arranged can be lifted off 

 at any time for tiering up, sending to market, 

 or any other puipose. Our one-armed friend. 

 J. II. Robertson, assured me this was the 



case, and that it was a great convenience 

 with him, for it enabled him to take off the 

 cases with one hand. 



HOAV TO 3IAKE A HONEY-UOAKD. 



President Hutchinson here spoke of hav- 

 ing a honey-board made so that the spaces in 

 it corresponded to those used in the perfor- 

 ated zinc, for keeping the queen and drones 

 below. ^Vooden bars placed at proper dis- 

 tances apart would not be practicable, be- 

 cause the spaces could not be made sufficient- 

 ly exact in this way, and the shrinkage of 

 the boards would be constantly liable to 

 make a variation in these spaces. Friend 

 II. has, however, already suggested a remedy 

 for this. In talking with Mr. R. L. Taylor, 

 who passed the night at Prof. Cook's, with 

 the rest of us, he informed me that he sug- 

 gested the idea to friend 11., who has suc- 

 ceeded perfectly in making a wooden honey- 

 board with correct bee-spaces. Within a few 

 days friend II. has sent us a honey-board by 

 exi)ress. having bee-spaces made "with a cir- 

 cular saw. which we furnished him, of the 

 proper tiiickness. The adjoining cut gives 

 the plan of the 

 Ilutchinsonhon- 

 ey-board. though 

 it is sjiaced a lit- 

 llc more accur- 

 ately than he had 

 ii. "The engrav- 

 ing makes the 

 wiiole matter 

 I'lain, with but 

 little explana- 

 tion. For econ- 

 omy we make the 

 honey - board of 

 two " pieces of 

 wood, the pieces being united attlieirends 

 by a cleat extending across both of them. 

 These cleats, in order to give; the proper i)ee- 

 space. are exactly I inch square. The boards 

 forming the honey-board are perforated by 

 dropi)ing tliein over a gang of four circula'r 

 saw s propeily spaced. The size is, of course, 

 so made as to (ill the top of the hive. Those 

 we keep in stock are just right for the Sim- 

 l)Iicity or chalf hive. We can furnish them 

 for b") cts. each ; Sl.;>j for ten, or .SI 2.50 per 

 100. These prices are for the boards nailed 

 up. In the Hat tliey will be 81.2.5 for ten, or 

 811.00 per 100. A sample can be sent by 

 mail for 12 cts. more for postage. 



In working for extracted honey. I do not 

 think I would use these honey-boards be- 

 tween the upper and lower stories. If you 

 prefer to have the frames in the uiti)er story 

 contain nothing but honey, however, one of 

 tlu'se lioiu'y-boaids will acconq)lish it per- 

 fectly ; and" another thing, it also al)solutely 

 prevents tlie bees from building l»etween the 

 upi»er and lowei' frames; at least, the con- 

 vention people intimated as much ; that is, 

 if we have a s-inch space above and below 

 the honey-board, the honey-board will likely 

 be waxed down solid to the tops of the lower 

 frames, but the upper frames will hang so 

 as to be lifted out any time, without any at- 

 tachments to tlie honey-board, any more 

 than we have to the bottom-board of the 

 hive. 



Continned next month. 



