260 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



it helped us to have clean sections when we 

 knew no better way. Bnt when we can have 

 top- bars so constructed that honey-boards 

 are unnecessary, then I vote honey boards a 

 nuisance. 



Even after reading your plea for them on p. 

 32G, I still want to be rid c f them. You say 

 they can be had for ten cents each, and they 

 last a life-time. Mine cost a good bit more 

 than that, and they haven't lasted a life time, 

 for many of them are used up now. Neither 

 do they any longer work perfectly, for the 

 bees build a good many|burr combs between 

 the honey- board aud the sections. 



You say accurate spacing of top-bars has 

 not yet been solved, " as the journals are yet 

 describing methods for spacing." Because 

 they are describing improvements as to the 

 best method of securing accurate spacing 

 don't argue that accurate spacing has not 

 been reached. You know very well that 

 years ago accurate spacing was obtained by 

 driving nails in the side of the top- bar. 



You say that it may be necessary to re- 

 move a super from the top of the hive per- 

 haps a dozen times during the lioney season. 

 You then ask, " Isn't it better that this 

 operation should be performed without the 

 muss and bother of even a few broken 

 combs?" Decidedly yes, but what has that 

 to do with the case? I think no one pleads it 

 is better to have the muss than to have the 

 honey-board, but if the muss can be got r d 

 of without the triennial muss of the honey- 

 board, aud in a cheaper and better way, 

 then shouldn't we adopt the better way ? 



You say that frames with spacers do away 

 with the lateral movement, necessitating a 

 larger hive to take iu a dummy, merely to 

 get rid of a honey-board that is often need- 

 ed as a queen excluder. For years I used 

 loose hanging frames without a dummy, and 

 after giving both a fair trial I have for 

 years used hanging frames with a dummy, 

 and whether loose or fixed frames were to 

 be used, if I were having all my hives made 

 anew, each one of them should have a dum- 

 my. So in my case the expense of the dum- 

 my mustn't be set down to tlie fixed spacing. 

 ]Slost of my hives have still the loose hang- 

 ing frames, and in both kinds of hives I 

 first remove the dummy, aud then the fixed 

 spacing has the advantage as to lateral move- 

 ment, for the fixed spacing gives just as free 

 lateral movement as the other, with the dis- 

 tinct advantage that instead of moving only 

 one frame at a time I often move eight. I 



do not know that a honey-board is ever 

 needed as an excluder, that is, I do not know 

 that it is needed to act as an excluder when 

 used as a honey-board. 



Now there's nothing little about me, and 

 I'm magnanimous enough to give you fu'l 

 permission to run your bees two years out of 

 three in box hives, and to have them with- 

 out numbers, but I'm not going to be forced 

 into following your lead. 



Please tell us for what purpose you think 

 it is necessary to go into your hives that third 

 year. 



Marengo, Ills. Aug. 13, 1895. 



Necessity for Organization, and a Sugges- 

 tion to try the Method Employed by 

 Fraternal Bodies. 



A. E. DAGGITT. 



M 



AN is natur- 

 ally a social 

 being. We in- 

 stinctively seek 

 the company of 

 others. Too little 

 social intercourse 

 with our fellows 

 begets selfish- 

 ness, and selfish- 

 ness is degrading; 

 while proper as- 

 sociation with 

 others refines our natures, enlarges and ex- 

 pands the mind, and makes life better worth 

 living. 



Not only is it natural for people to mingle 

 together for social purposes, but it is also 

 natural for those of the same business or 

 occupation to get together to discuss mat- 

 ters relating to their own pursuit. This 

 woula naturally lead to a desire to co-operate 

 for the purpose of securing some benefits 

 not easily obtained or not olitainable at all 

 except by collective effort. 



Whatever may prompt the desire for co- 

 operation, it certainly is universal : in fact co- 

 operation is one of the most potent factors 

 iu the accomplishment of human designs. 

 Without it the human race could scarcely 

 exist at all. 



Except to a limited extent, co-operation is 

 only practicable by means of organization . 



J 



