656 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



it is dra2?ed all over the outside of the section the 

 next time you pass over it. There is great dan- 

 ger of racking the sections and getting a leaker. 



It also throws dust into the open cells of honey. 

 If the comb bulges, you of course get one that 

 leaks, besides dauoing up the sandpaper. We have 

 been using sandpaper for about four years, but on 

 an iion wheel which dees the work. J. E. Gayer. 



This note was intended only for our own 

 consideration, and not for the public; but 

 as it brinsrs in some questions based on 

 long experience in handling carloads and 

 carloads of honey that has to be regi'aded 

 and scraped, we give it for what it is worth. 

 This we also submitted to Dr. Miller, and 

 this in turn brought back another letter 

 from him as follows : 



Dear Ernest: — Yours of June 22 hardly needs 

 r 'ply beyond saying that you have sized up the 

 matter exactly. What Mr. Gayer says is just what 

 might he expected with sandpaper flying on a 

 ■wheel at such a rate that it "cuts so rapidly that it 

 sometimes wears oft the edge of the section so that 

 the sandpaper itself touches the comb." We have 

 no wheel except Miss Wilson's very efficient pair 

 of hands. As I have no personal experience in the 

 work, I took up Mr. Gayer's objections with Miss 

 Wilson, point by i)oint, and will try to" give her 

 replies. 



1. It fills thi' paper very rapidly. 



"So it does; but, as Allen Latham says, there's 

 plenty of sandpaper, and the time saved pays sever- 

 al times for the extra sandpaper." 



2. Tf a drop of honey gets on your paper, it is 

 dragged all over the outside of the section the next 

 time yon pass over it. 



"Sometimes it happens that honey is daubed on 

 the wood of a section, in which case it is wiped 

 clean before sanding. I don't remember ever to 

 have had a drop of honey fall on the paper from a 

 section. If it did it seems I should have noticed if 

 any trouble came from it: but I have no recollection 

 of any such tro;ible. Could the rapid revolution 

 have an\-thiijg to do ^vith it ?" 



3. It also throu-s dtisf into the oien cells of honey. 

 "Not here. Dust doesn't fall uphill. May be it 



might with the blo\ring of rapid motion." 



4. /;■ honey i<i lulgy. you of course get a leaker, 

 besides daubing up the sandpaper. 



"That's true. We rarely have bulging — very 

 rarely; and when it happens, sandpaper cannot be 

 used for the edges — only the sides." 



5. Great danger of rackirig the section and get- 

 ting it to leak. 



"Not as much danger of racking the section as 

 whf-n cleaning with a knife. It might be different 

 -.vith very rapid motion. I don't remember ever 

 racking any with all I've ever done." 



It seems pretty clear that the hands have it over 

 the power sand-wheel. Fortunately, hands are also 

 more plentiful than power sand-wheels. 



C. C. Mjllkr. 



This A\as again submitted to our Mr. 

 (rayer. who replies as follows. This note 

 also he intended only for our private con- 

 sideration. 



Our remarks were based on sanding the sections 

 just as Dr. Miller suggested in his letter. We did 

 not ufe the wheel, but used a sandpaper tacked on 

 the table as he described. 



We don't mean honey dropping from the ceils, but 

 inside of the section, which probably leaked out in 

 transit. 



Remember we are at the other end of the ship- 



ping line, with different conditions. There is 

 some difference between honey taken direct from 

 the hive and receiving it after having been shipped 

 a great distance. 



Dast does rise, especially on plain rections, but 

 not so much on bee way sections. J. E. Gayer. 



As we did not seem to be getting any- 

 where, we told Mr. Gayer we should like to 

 try out the sandpaper ourselves. Our tirst 

 tests were decidedly satisfactory; but still 

 we noticed that the edges of the sections 

 vvere roughened up somewhat (more so than 

 with the knife) and that fine dust would be 

 deposited on the surface of the comb honey 

 lo a slight extent, also that the paper filled 

 up with the glue. We came to the conclu- 

 sion that sonietimes the sandpaper was bet- 

 ter, and sometimes the knife. 



If Dr. Miller (or more exactly Miss Wil- 

 son who does the cleaning) were to try to 

 sandpaper the sections that come to Medina 

 from di/Terent localities of the United 

 States, he (or she) might find it wanting, 

 as does Mr. Gayer. Much depends on 

 the temperature of the room and the gen- 

 eral character of the propolis, for propolis, 

 as is well known, varies according to the 

 locality from which the bees gather it. That 

 is only another way of saying that in some 

 places the scraping-knife will work better 

 than the sandpaper. At all events, this is 

 the season for trying the scraping-knife and 

 the sandpaper. 



It might be well to say that our comb 

 honey is largely in plain sections. The four 

 edg&s of this scrape easier with a knife than 

 the two edges and the two insets of a bee- 

 way section. On the other hand the last- 

 named section might handle easier on sand 

 paper. 



There is one more point that must be 

 considered besides temperatitre and local- 

 ity ; and that is the exact shape and edge of 

 the knife as well as the coarseness or 

 fineness of the sandpaper. In any discus- 

 sion relative to sandpaper, we hope our 

 readers will be sure to mention what num- 

 ber of paper (the degree of coarseness) 

 gives the best results. If you are talking 

 about knives, tell us whether it is a kitchen 

 knife witli a thin blade, or a caseknife with 

 1 stiff blade, or a stocky butcher-knife. 

 -Vgain, is the edge sharp, suitable for par- 

 ing potatoes? or is it ground square so that 

 the two 7-ight-angled edges of the knife do 

 the work? We are liable to get all mixed 

 up in our discussion unless we know what 

 the other man is talking abr)ut, and the 

 writer, therefore, cannot be too precise. 



We shall be glad to get reports from 

 those who have been tryinc both side by 

 side, and the decision regarding the relative 

 merits of the two. 



