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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ENEKAL COMMESPONDENCE 



NON-SEPARATORED HONEY— A CHALLENGE 



BY ALLEN LATHAM 



On page 616, August 15, 1914, the editor 

 uses rather severe language regarding hon- 

 ey produced without the use of separators. 

 Ilaving produced comb honey after that 

 manner for thirty years I wish to discuss 

 the question. 



If, per se, it were impossible to produce 

 good marketable comb honey without the 

 use of separators, the editor's position 

 would be unassailable. If, on the other 

 liand, good marketable sections can be pro- 

 duced without the use of separators, then 

 the question should be debated on this issue 

 — which system can be made to yield the 

 better average results? 



After an exhaustive use of separators, 

 both plain and fence, I have practically 

 discarded the use of separators as separa- 

 tors. I still use fence separators between 

 the outer rows of sections and the super 

 side.s. 



The one argument against the non-use of 

 separators is divided into — ■ 



(a) Sections lack uniformity of weight. 



{h) Sections cannot be crated on account 

 of bulging combs. 



As for (a) I state without hesitation that 

 there is absolutely no truth in that notion. 

 I have weighed thousands of sections from 

 both separatored and non-separatored su- 

 pers, and I can declare with certainty that 

 there is as much variation in weight in the 

 sections of one sort as in those of the other. 

 Variation in weight is dependent upon oth- 

 er factors — the character of the honey-flow 

 and the strain of bees. Only in the case of 

 weak colonies can there be variation from 

 otiier than those two factors, and such colo- 

 nies should never be used in the production 

 of comb honey. With si;eh colonies the bees 

 will work in only a few sections at a time, 

 and will bulge the combs as they advance 

 from section to section. 



In the case of (6) I will admit that there 

 will be more sections of non-separatored 

 honey diflficult to crate than there will be of 

 these produced with separators, but far 

 fewer than most people are inclined to be- 

 lieve. In my own case the bulging sections 

 are about offset by the leaky sections due 

 to the bees fastening the combs to the sep- 

 arators. Here again the strain of bees is 

 the controlling factor. One can as easily 

 breed out the tendency to bulge combs as 



he can the tendency to fasten combs to 

 separators. 



The difficulty with slightly bulging combs 

 is not felt when cartons are used. All comb 

 honey should be cartoned. When not ear- 

 toned it is exposed to the dust and germ- 

 laden atmosphere of the grocery. We owe 

 it to the consumer to carton our comb hon- 

 ey. All cartons should allow about one 

 thirty-second of an inch beeway for easy 

 withdrawal of section, and this is ample 

 allowance for better than 99 per cent of 

 non-separatored honey. At times the slight- 

 ly bulging comb will suffer some pressure, 

 in which case there will be a patch of wa- 

 tery cappings, but seldom any leakage. 

 There will, in fact, be far less leakage than 

 will result from the broken capping-s due to 

 burr-combs in separatored honey. Right 

 here I should like to say that I have no use 

 for a carton which does not completely 

 cover the section. I regret the encourage- 

 ment that the bottomless-topless carton has 

 received of late. It is a poor makeshift. 



Arguments for the production of non- 

 sepai^atored honey are more than two : 

 {a) It is less labor to prepare supers. 

 (6) It is less labor to care for the prod- 

 uct. 



(c) Bees more readily enter the supers. 

 {d) Swarming is greatly lessened, 

 (e) Honey is of better quality. 

 (/) More sections can be put in a super. 

 (g) A bigger crop can be produced. 

 (h) Better for business. 

 All will, without debate, concede (a) and 

 (6). and will readily agree that, if market- 

 able comb honey can be produced without 

 the use of separators, then the labor item 

 alone settles the question. I think also that 

 all will concede without argument that bees 

 more readily enter a super of sections where 

 there are no separators. A properly pre- 

 pared super, put on at the right time, will 

 do more than any other thing to keep down 

 the percentage of swarming. Dismissing, 

 then, the first four points in favor of non- 

 sei>aratored honey I pass to (e). 



It will surprise many that the claim 

 sliould be made that better honey can be 

 produced without than with .separators. It 

 is actually true, and upon two counts. Non- 

 sepaiatored honey is better cured, and, as 

 a rule, less waxy. The concentration of 



