Vol. XV. 



Dec. 15, 1887. 



No. 24. 



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SEPABATORS-'WOOD OR TIN? 



DR. MILLER CONSIDERS THE RELATIVE MERITS OF 

 EACH. 



fF late 1 have seen no discussion as to the rela- 

 tive merits of wood. and tin for separators. I 

 think it is pretty well agreed, that each one 

 is best in its own place— wood for a loose sep- 

 arator, and tin for nailing. I have given both 

 a pretty full trial. A wood separator nailed on a 

 wide frame, although the grain allows it to make no 

 sudden bend in the direction of its length, will make 

 various curves in the direction of its width, making 

 it ditBcult if not impossible to keep the wide frames 

 as close together with wood as with tin. 



Whether loose or nailed, tin has the advantage of 

 taking up less room than wood; but the difference 

 is not so great with separators 26 to the inch in 

 thickness Instead of 16 or 17, as I have heretofore 

 used them. On the other hand, wood is warmer 

 than tin, and this may make quite a difference in 

 cool nights. 



Where loose separators are used, as in T supers, 

 great exactness of length is required, for the length 

 can not, of course, be greater than the inside length 

 of the super; and if it be an eighth of an inch less, 

 the wall of the section being only an eighth of an 

 inch thick, the separator may fail at one end to 

 hold its place between the sections. Now, suppose 

 there is a variation of ^ of an inch in the length 

 of the supers land it will be pretty exact work if 

 there isn't), it will readily be seen that a separator 

 1^ too short may spoil matters. Separators, wheth- 

 er of wood or tin, may be cut very exact in length, 

 but the tin may very easily assume something of 



the serpentine or wavy form in the direction of its 

 length. From this, two evils result. First, the wav- 

 ing form lessens the length of the separator, so that 

 it may become entirely too short. Second, wher- 

 ever a wave occurs in the tin, the comb in the sec- 

 tions is built to correspond, making the sections un- 

 true, one bulged, the other hollow. I have seen tin 

 separators in a T super so shortened as to be % to Vt 

 an inch out of place at one end. The stiffness pre- 

 vents any thing of this kind in wood. 



Tin is easier cleaned than wood, and at present 

 prices I don't know that it pays to clean wood. In- 

 deed, I think I shall hereafter use nothing but new 

 wood separators, and, after using once, throw them 

 away. It costs only one cent or less for each super 

 (aside from freight), and with new separators it is 

 so easy to put the sections in the super, and then 

 they are kept so clean and nice that I think I can 

 make more by using new than to clean up the old 

 ones. 



SECTIONS BUILT TO ONE SIDE. 



Complaint has been made of sections so built as to 

 be one-sided, and often attached to the separator. I 

 think the sections will not be found attached to the 

 separator unless foundation-starters of large size 

 are used. The remedy is not easily found; but if I 

 say what I think is the cause, it may help some one 

 to suggest a remedy, for the difficulty is quite a se- 

 rious one, occurring equally in wide frames or other 

 supers. If bees have only a little honey to store, 

 they are prone to continue storing in combs, or, in- 

 deed, in cells already started. Give, to a strong 

 colony which is storing rapidly, starters of founda- 

 tion two inches or moi-e apart, with no separators, 

 and full surface for attaching comb midway be* 



