15H 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



6uR 0WN ^Pi;q^Y. 



CONDUCTED BY ERNEST R. ROOT. 



THE T SUPER— ITS USES AND CONSTRUC- 

 TION. 



EVER since the first appearance of tlmt 

 practical little work by Dr. Miller, 

 A Year Among the Bees,'' we* 

 have been discussing here in our es- 

 tablishment the merits and demerits, 

 if any, of the T super. We have made 

 several models upon a plan different from 

 Miller's ; but after carefully considering all 

 tlie pros and cons of the various plans we 

 have at last gone back to very nearly the 

 original one as described in "the doctor's 

 book. The sliglit change was made with 

 a view to simplify the construction of the 

 T super as well as to secure one or two 

 additional advantages, as it seemed to us. 



Tlie one figured below does Jiot represent 

 exactly the one which we projiose to bring 

 before the public, as we made a little change 

 in it after we put it into the hands of the en- 

 gravers. However, it will serve our purpose 

 to illustrate the principle of the T super. 



(►^ 



::-'k?- 



THE T SUPER. 



The T tins, from which the super derives 

 its name, is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the 

 latter a cross-section. Friend Miller, in his 

 book, says it would be desirable if the T 

 tins could be made of one strip of tin, but 

 that his tinner informed him that, with ordi- 

 nary tools, this could not be done. His tins 

 were accordingly made by placing two tins, 

 bent at right angles, together, as n 

 in Fig. 8. They were then sold-' 



ered. These are just as good " — - 



when finished, but are rather ex- ^^^^^- ^• 

 pensive to make. We now have a machine 

 which makes the T tins of one strip of tin, 

 as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. 



We next were undecided as to whether we 

 should make these T tins at fixed distances. 



*"We" means Mr. Warner (our foreman), Mr. 

 Calvert. A. I. R., when he is not off in the lots, and 

 your humble servant. We're the " bosses," you 

 know. 



or whether we should make them movable, 

 as in the Miller super. The engraving 

 shows the tins as stationary. We had then 

 decided to make them as in the cut, for the 

 following reasons : First, the tins would al- 

 ways be in place, and, as a consequence, 

 would not require to be spaced when putting 

 in sections. Second, the T tins would not 

 get lost. 



After carefully reconsidering the matter 

 we came to the conclusion that we ought not 

 to deviate to any considerable extent from 

 the plan given by so good an authority as 

 Dr. Miller. We accordingly decided to 

 make the super with the T tins movable, 

 in spite of the fact that our engravers had 

 illustrated the supei' as originally intended. 

 The manner of construction which we have 

 finally decided upon is as follows : 



The two end-pieces of the shell of the su- 

 per arel3*x4ixi; the two side-pieces are 

 18ix4ix-5-16. We next get out two strips of 

 tin, i inch wide, and in length equal to the 



inside length of the super; also 

 I B two strips of tin i inch wide, in 



length equal to the inside width 

 — !q of the super. These strips of 



tin are bent at right angles along 

 FIG. 4. their entire length. These are 

 nailed along tlie inside bottom edge of the 

 super, as in Fig. 4. A represents a section 

 of the wooden side near the liottom edge, 

 and ij, C, the tin bent at right angles. Up- 

 on B rests the flat edge of the T tin, the 

 edge C coming flush with the bottom of the 

 wood. 



ADVANTAGES IN HAVING THE SUPER MADE 

 AS ABOVE. 



Let US now consider one or two of the 

 necessary advantages accruing from the use 

 of movable T tins. Tliey permit, first, not 

 only the use of the 4ix4i section, l)ut also 

 the (i to the L. frame, and the 4 to the L. 

 frame. Where it is desirable to use either 

 of the two latter, one or two of the T tins, 

 as the case may be, may be dispensed with, 

 and the others spaced so as to receive the 

 sections. That is, this super will take a 

 1-lb., li-lb., and 2-lb., section, and, as we 

 shall see, several widths of these sizes. 

 Right here the reader will observe that the 

 Moore crate, by reason of the partitions be- 

 ing at fixed distances, does not permit of 

 the foregoing valuable function. Again, 

 the T super, M'ith movable tins, permits the 

 removal of the sections en masse, l)y means 

 of a follower, in tlie easiest manner possi- 

 ble. It is true, the Moore crate possesses 

 this feature to a certain extent, but it does 

 not seem to me that the sections can be re- 

 moved as easily. Those partitions present 

 a considerable amount of surface to the sec- 

 tions ; and this, together with the added 

 amount of bee-glue, makes a consequent in- 

 crease of friction in removing the sections. 



There is another very important advan- 

 tage which the T super has over the Moore 

 crate; namely, the former may be used 

 either with or without separators", while the 

 latter can not be so used. Last of all, the T 

 super costs less. 



The foregoing are the differences between 

 the two surplus arrangements. In other re- 

 spects they possess about the same func- 



