160 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mail 



I now have 9 acres in oitbards, 3 acres in rasp- 

 berries, and 1 2 acre in strawberries, and intend to 

 plant-between 3 and 4 acres more to raspberries and 

 strawberries next spring:. At some future time I 

 will try to give you some further reports as to my 

 success in the iTndertaking-. Samukl Rav. 



Columbiana, Ohio, Feb. 13. 1885. 



Friend' R.. I am afraid you are doubting a 

 littlle too mucli. are you not? It is my im- 

 pression tliat theie ale many who prefer to 

 raise lioney instead of doing sometliiiig else, 

 even if the price should come down so as to 

 average not more tlinn the price of white 

 sugar, as it is now retailed in our markets. 

 Of course, tliere are many wlio liave other 

 work that would pay them" better ; but those 

 wlio love the bees and the business. I think 

 Avould still save the honey when it comes, 

 and I am not sure but it "will eventually 

 prove to be the cheapest sweet, all things 

 considered, that can be obtained. 



HEDDON'S HONEY-EACK COMPARED 

 WITH J. F. MOORE S. 



ALSO SOMETHING IN KEGAHD TO MOHAL PATENTS. 



fRIEND liOOT:— The. honey-rack described on 

 page 85 of Gleanings is not like Heddon's. 

 1st, because it does not make any arrange- 

 ments for bee-spaces at top and bottom of 

 the sections; 2d, It is an inside case; 1. c, it 

 needs another outside of it, for we infer the case 

 is tb hold only tlie bottom of the sections, for no 

 sensible bee-keeper would think of using- sections 

 t),^i in. long and only ?.-}.i in. high. The Heddon case 

 covers the sides of sections entirely; M, There is 

 no arrangement for tiering up in the Moore case. 

 I have used a case essentially the same, and do not 

 like it. But the Heddon case 1 have yet to find any 

 fault with, and any claimed iiilprovement on it has 

 been, as Mr. Heddon says, only adding a defect. 

 As 1 do not remember to have seen any thing in 

 print giving its points of merit, I hei'cwith inclose 

 an artifcle on that subject. 



I will saj-, in regard to the " moral-patent" busi- 

 ness, I wrote Mr. Heddon, as friend Hutchinson 

 suggested, and received a very neat and gentle- 

 mafily reply from Mr. Heddon, which was quite 

 satisfactory, as far as 1 am concerned; and yet I 

 am not satislled that " moral patents " are just right, 

 or that bee-men are more aj)t to respect the rights 

 of others than any other class of men. The paying 

 for a fight to manufacture should also include the 

 defense of that right. Suppose that now, after you 

 have paid Mr. H. .?100 for your right, some other 

 large establishment, with a less conscientious man 

 at the head, advertises and makes them for almost 

 hiilf what you do, do you think that he would not 

 get the custom? Would bee-men be willing to pay 

 more for a thing of your make than for another 

 made equally well'/ Would the blame rest on the 

 l)ee-fnan if he did buy of him, the cheap manuf'ae- 

 tui-er> Would he be justilled in talring the money 

 from his family, to pay you the extra price? Now, 

 this is a^>n>Posed ease; but it is also true in fact, 

 as the inclosed leaf from a well-known manufac- 

 turer's catalogue will show. 



Allow me to criticise Heddon's ai-ticle in one 

 l)Oint. It might be inferred from the piiragraph on 

 the houey-board, that boes would not build comb 



between it and the tops of the frames, which is 

 wrong, for they will do so. I have never used one 

 myself, but a neighbor has, so I know from person- 

 al observation. Also the engraving of his hive is 

 wrong in one particular. It would appear from it 

 that the slat honey-board had strips running cross- 

 wise with the frames, which is not a fact. 



WIDE FRAMES VS. HEDDON'S CASE. 



1. It dispenses with separators, saving e.vpense, 

 and making one less " trap " to have around. 



2. It keeps sections free from propolis, by having 

 proper bee-spaces above and below the sections, and 

 covering the sides entirely; at least, this has been 

 my experience, and 1 infer that others liave had the 

 same, from the " boom " they got at the Michigan 

 convention. 



j 3. The sections are brought down closer to the 

 brood-frames when putting on the first sections at 

 the commencement of the honey-flow; i. e., to get 

 the bees at work in sections you do not have to put 

 them so high up, and away from the heat of the 

 brood-nest, which is important in preserving the 

 heat of the hive. It is true, one might, by putting 

 wide frames at the side, or by division -boards, 

 obviate this objection to wide frames, but this 

 makes more "putter" and more "traps" around. 

 I find that, in practice, one case of 28 sections is 

 seldom too much for a colony to start on. 



4. It admits of tiering up, without putting on 

 more room than the bees can heat up to the proper 

 temiierature for wax-working. The sections which 

 are nearest finished, and which ought to be ripened 

 fastest, are always kept at the toj), where the great- 

 est heat is supposed to be. 



5. Cheapness. A hive complete with two wide 

 frames is put at !?3.50, which is to hold 48 sections; 

 one hive, complete with two cases, or .'C sections, at 

 S3.0C— a difterence of 50 cts. in favor of cases, and 

 room for 16 sections more. This would make, I pre- 

 sume, a difference of SCO.CO on furnishing an outfit 

 for 100 colonies— quite an item! 



6. Ease of handling. In filling wide frames I have 

 had trouble in handling the frames when full of 

 empty sections; they would slip out on the side 

 where there was no separator, or would get moved 

 a little, just enough to bother, or the bottom-bar 

 would get sagged, and leave a space in the middle 

 at the top, and thus throw the sections out of 

 square by their own weight, when they were being 

 filled. A section can not get out of place in a Hed- 

 don case; it can't drop out, nor get in the way of 

 another. Sections are easier put in and easier taken 

 out of a ease. There is no prying up of frames, 

 no gluing together of frames. The sections will 

 usually drop out themselves when the case is turn- 

 ed bottom up, and can thus be emptied while you 

 would be getting wide frames out of a hive. They 

 are easier to handle when full than a hive full of 

 wide frames, for your load is in two parts; this is 

 (luite an item when, for anj' reason, you wish to get 

 at the brood-combs. 



T. They may be reversed, which is quite impor- 

 tant in getting sections sealed over quickly. 



There are some minor points I might mention, 

 but think these are enough to convince the most 

 skeptical; but if there yet be any doubting Thomas- 

 es, I say, let them send to Mr. Heddon and get 

 enovigh to try, and be convinced. But before clos- 

 ing I would remind anj- one who thinks of dispens- 

 \ iiig with separators that three things are all impor- 

 I tant. 1. Sections must not bo over Hi in. wide, but 



