218 



ULEANliVGS LN BHIK CULTUKE. 



Mar. 



impossible to make your work so exact that the 

 distauce from the L tins, when nailed on to the 

 upper edge of the super, shall be always and every- 

 where precisely 4^4 inches; moreover, the lumber 

 in the super may shrink, even if only a very little; 

 and, besides, a bit ol' bee-glue, or a slight variation 

 in the size of a section, may make a difference. 

 I n either of these cases you may have something- 

 like this: 



The upper surface of the sections being higher 

 than the upper edges of the super: 



Now, in tiering up (and I wouldn't use these 

 supers if I couldn't tier them up) there will be 

 difficulty in placing another super on this one, for 

 it must fit exactly over these sections, with some 

 liability of injuring the sections, both in putting on 

 and taking oft' the upper s\ipei'. On the other hand, 

 if the bottom of the sections rests flush with the 

 bottom of the super, any little inequality such as I 

 have mentioned would produce no worse result 

 than simply to make the bee-space a little smaller. 



Speaking of the T tins made of two pieces solder- 

 ed together, you say: "These are just as good 

 when finished, but are rather expensive to make." 

 Mine cost nearly twice as much, I think, as you 

 offer them at, but I think they are by no means 

 "just as good." In filling a super, when the last 

 section is being put in, it sometimes catches on the 

 sharp edge of one of the T tins, and makes trouble 

 about getting in; whereas, in your T tins the 

 rounded edge will not be so likely to catch and hold 

 the section from going in. 



There is an advantage in having the T tins mov- 

 able that you have not mentioned. It is. that it is 

 so very easy to put in all the sections except the 

 last ones, as you will readilj' see that, for the first 

 three rows, you can have the space to put them in 

 as loose as you please; whereas, if fixed, all the 

 spaces will be equally tight. Moreover, in putting 

 in the last sections (the most difficult ones, wheth- 

 er the T tins are fixed or movable), if the T tins are 

 movable, the sections, tins and all, can be crowded 

 along so as to make more room, so I think a super 

 with movable tins can be filled more quickly and 

 easily. 



My supers are made with the corners double- 

 halved. This not only makes a stiff' close corner, but 

 it is' very easy to nail together right. Yours, how- 

 ever, being made of thinner stuff', will not admit 

 easily of halving at the corners, and, as I undei*- 

 stand it, yours are to be used inside. Mine being of 

 7i stuff, there is never any thing outside the super, 

 which is simpler and cheaper, T suppose, but per- 

 haps there may be some advantage in the extra 

 protection yours have. 



The inside length of yours, if I mistake not, is ^s 

 inch less than mine, there being in mine 50 per 

 cent more play lengthwise with the pound sections 

 than in yours. I am a little afraid that, with so 

 little play, some will condemn the super as being 

 too difHcult to fill. 



Youi-s are, If inches wider than mine. I suppose 

 that is to make them fit the hive. Mine are too 

 narrow to fit my hives, and it is awkward; but I 

 thought I would i-ather put up with the awkward- 



ness than to have them larger. Still, there is room 

 for difference of opinion about this. But please let 

 me insist vem sUongly. that, if you make the inside 

 wider than \2^s you will make it still wider than 

 iSYi, and not stop short of at least U 1-16. Mine are 

 lli^i; and let me assure you, from a big experience, 

 that nothing less should be used for a width of six 

 sections measuring IKi- 1(5 each. 1 know you can 

 take figures and pro^e me all wrong, but 1 have 

 gone through .all of that, and thrown away supers 

 because the fit was too tight, so I think I know 

 what I am talking about. Now, if I am right, that 

 V2ls is right for 6 sections, and you make your su- 

 per IS^s, you have just l-'g inches space in which to 

 crowd a 1 15-16 section. I am not sure but that 

 figures may help a little. Seven sections make 

 7x1 1.5-16 =i;{ 9-16. Add to this, for six wooden sep- 

 arators, 6-16, and you have 1.3 15-16, so you must 

 count on 7-16 shrinkage to get them in, if every 

 thing went just by the figures. But in actual 

 practice it doesn't work just by the figures. I wish 

 for once you would be urged by what may seem to 

 you my prejudices. If you make the supers too 

 loose, no great harm will come of it; but if too 

 tight, the result will be worse than you perhaps 

 think, as I know from sad experience. 



The more I think about it, the more I don't like 

 the idea of having the super inside the hive. In a 

 busy time in a large apiary, I think it will make 

 extra handling that should be avoided. Is there 

 any real advantage in it '? Perhaps you think the 

 supers will not fit nicely on the hives. Mine do 

 not, but the difficulty is easily overcome in actual 

 practice. O. C. Mim.er. 



Marengo, 111., Feb. 31, 1887. 



On receipt of the letter above, 1 wrote to 

 Dr. Miller in substance as follows: We 

 aimed to adapt our super to the Simplicity 

 hive as far as it seemed practicable. In do- 

 ing this we made one or two slight changes. 

 It is true, your bee-space in the T super is 

 above the sections. We made ours below. 

 The construction if the Simplicity hive 

 necessitates a bee-space under the crate, 

 as there is no shoulder to raise it a bee- 

 space above the frames. You are perhaps 

 aware, that most of our customers are using 

 the Simplicity hive. This brings the sec- 

 tions flush with the top edges of the super; 

 but with our improved machinery it does 

 not seem to me that there will be very much 

 trouble arising from inaccurate work. We 

 think of nothing that would support the T 

 tins as firmly as the L tins. It is true, we 

 could make short pieces of I. tins ; but we 

 fear that, if we should do this, these small 

 pieces might be lost in packing ; and, be- 

 sides, they would not be as strong. — The 

 inside width of the T super (181 in.) is just 

 the same as in the combined crate and 

 Moore crate. In both we use 1 15-16 sec- 

 tions ; and in the former. 1 15-Ki sections, 

 with tin separators. If we use loood sepa- 

 rators we liave no doubt but that you will 

 need the 12i-inch space foi- six 1 ].i-l(i sec- 

 tions. The 1 l-'j-K) when lirst made will 

 always shrink enough to let in tin separa- 

 tors. Thei'e is noway of using vvdoden sep- 

 arators in our T super unless we use narrow 

 sections.— In regard to the L tins prevent- 

 ing the bees from getting into the last row 

 of sections, would not contraction, as prac- 



