(Entered as second-claHs matter at the Poal-office at Hamilton. 111., under Act of March 3. 1879.) 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by American Bee Journal, First National Bank Building 



C. p. DADANT. Editor. 



DR C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor, 



HAMILTON, ILL, JUNE, 1915 



Vol. LV.. No. 6 



Editorial 



Comments 



Seotioii.s by Part-el Post 



A section of honey was received at 

 Marengo, sent from Norwich, Conn., 

 by Allen Latham. Concerning it the 

 following note was received : 



"I am sending under separate covei 

 a section of honey. I am not sending 

 it to cause you to acquire a liking for 

 the sumac honey, but to illustrate by 

 example a method of sending comb 

 honey by n ail. I have sent it many 

 times the past winter, and have not had 

 one instance of disaster. Four sections 

 were sent to Chicago, and I particu 

 larly asked that its condition be noted. 

 I was informed that it came in perfect 

 condition, and would have gone on to 

 San Francisco as well. I have several 

 times sent as many as ten sections 

 packed this way, but feel rather shaky 

 with the heavier packages. Ten sec- 

 tions demand so much excelsior that 

 the bundle approaches the limit in size. 

 I am always careful to select a section 

 fastened on at least three sides with 

 cells next to the wood sealed. I should 

 not advise trying to send sections 

 which did not have sealed honey next 

 the wood. 



"The section I am sending you was 

 produced without separators. I do not 

 use separators on more than a small 

 percentage of my section honey, and 

 question whether I have any more un- 

 salable sections than I used to have 

 when I used separators almost en- 

 tirely." 



The package was mostly a bundle of 

 excelsior, tighly wrapped. The section 

 came in such excellent condition that 

 it would seem that with the precau- 

 tions taken by Mr. Latham there would 

 be no difficulty as to such shipments. 

 Of course, for such long distances it 

 would hardly be feasible, for it was sent 

 into the 5th zone, the package being 



not far from a foot each way and 

 weighing nearly 2>^ pounds, so that the 

 postage was 20 cents, but for 7 cents 

 the same package could be sent any- 

 where within 1-50 miles. 



First a waxed paper enveloped the 

 section. It was then put in a neat car- 

 ton, enclosing it on all sides. Then a 

 neat wrapping of paper as heavy as 

 ordinary writing paper. Then a light 

 wooden box open at two ends, wrapped 

 in paper, and about this the excelsior, 

 over which was tied securely two cov- 

 erings of thin, tough paper. 



One would not be likely to suspect 

 that the section was produced without 

 separators, and to most of us the ques- 

 tion will occur, " How does he do it ?" 

 The only thing unusual in appearance 

 is the section open on four sides. Can 

 that help to dispense with separators ? 

 A curious thing is that one looking at 

 or through the section might pro- 

 nounce it white clover, but would never 

 make the mistake after cutting into it 

 and seeing the distinctly yellow tint of 

 the sumac honey. c. c. M. 



Photosraps for Publication 



Within not a great many years illus- 

 trations by way of half tone pictures 

 made from photographs have become 

 a strong feature in magazines of all 

 kinds, including bee journals. To the 

 many beekeepers who " touch the but- 

 ton," the American Bee lournal is in- 

 debted for much that adds interest and 

 beauty to its pages. Yet it sometimes 

 happens that some one with littl; ex- 

 perience in this particular sends in a 



picture that is not available. When 

 this happens it is likely to be as much 

 of a disappointment to the manage- 

 ment of the journal as it is to the one 

 sending the photograph. So a hint or 

 two to those who have had little or no 

 experience may be useful. 



One of the things of importance is 

 that a photograph be sharp and dis- 

 tinct. Lacking in this respect, the 

 photograph itself may be beautiful, but 

 a half-tone made from it may be so in- 

 distinct as to be worthless. 



Years ago photographs had a glossy 

 surface, but of late years a soft surface 

 without any glossiness is more in 

 favor. Yet the glossy surface is the 

 right thing if a half-tone is to be made 

 from it. 



To be of interest in a bee journal, a 

 picture should of course be in some 

 way related to beekeeping. The most 

 obvious thing in that relation is an 

 apiary. No apiary is so commonplace 

 as to be without interest to a wide- 

 awake beekeeper, and a good picture 

 of one is the next thing to the apiary 

 itself. Don't hesitate to send in a pic- 

 ture because your apiary is not large. 

 To be sure, if any apiary contains a 

 very large number of colonies, that 

 fact alone makes it of interest. But on 

 account of beautiful surroundings, or 

 for some other reason, one may care 

 more to look upon the picture of a 

 dozen hives, or even one or two, than 

 upon some other picture with a large 

 number. 



In almost any kind of picture it is 

 desirable to have one or more persons 

 appear, and this applies especially to 

 pictures of apiaries. But the persons 

 should be incideiital and not appear as 

 if expecting chief attention. If two or 

 three figures are lined up stiffly in front 

 of the camera, it has the appearance 

 that they are there especially to have 



