554 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



SPLIT SECTIONS. 



Split sections have been .brought before 

 the public lately in a way that seems likely 

 to induce some to adopt them, or at least to 

 give them a trial. It should be remembered 

 that the plan is by no means new. Fifteen 

 years or more ago I knew of a man who 

 used them to a considerable extent, and I 

 believe the plan had been published some 

 years before that. The fact that it has made 

 so little progress since that time that most 

 regard it as something new, while it does 

 not prove the plan valueless, is, to a certain 

 extent, indicative that it is not likely to be 

 generally satisfactory. I believe the points 

 of superiority claimed are, less time required 

 to till the section with foundation, and a bet- 

 ter filled and finished section of honey. As 

 to the first point, 1 think the difference would 

 be so small that it would be hardly worth 

 considering. On the second point I would 

 be willing to concede a little superiority in 

 results over ordinary methods, but one that 

 is so slight, when better methods are follow- 

 ed, that I do not believe it begins to com- 

 pensate for the objections to the plan. 



Chief among these objections are the gen- 

 eral appearance of the section and the color 

 which it gives to the old belief in manufac- 

 tured comb honey. It is beyond question 

 that many persons unfamiliar with comb 

 foundation would find in these sections with 

 their laargin of unaltered foundation proof 

 positive to their minds of the artificial na- 

 ture of the honey, and thus one of the most 

 injurious things that ever happened to the 

 honey market would be given new life and 

 strength. 



FOUNDATION SPLINTS. 



I used a number of splints for supporting 

 full sheets of foundation last summer, and 

 found them very satisfactory for the purpose. 

 I was never satisfied with the results of hor- 

 izontal wiring except when used with heavy 

 foundation and under the most favorable cir- 

 cumstances of temperature, etc. The old 

 vertical wiring gave perfect combs, but it is 

 hardly suited to the thick top-bars in such 

 common use, and the wires on the tops of 

 the frames are considerable of a nuisance 

 when it comes to scraping burr-combs off 

 from them. When I came to manufacture 

 the first splints I used to experiment with, I 

 very soon found that they were not easily 

 made by ordinary methods. Such small ar- 

 ticles were difficult to handle in circular-saw 

 work. I soon hit upon a method, though, 

 that made it very easy. It may be that the 

 slicing method of which the editor has told 



us is best suited to factory use, but perhaps 

 there are some who, like myself, use a special 

 size, or who want only a few to experiment 

 with, or, for other reasons, want to manu- 

 facture their own, so I will give my method. 

 I made them out of the ordinary sawed wood 

 separators. Cutting single splints at a time 

 was too slow; and cutting a number at a 

 time was troublesome and inexact. Either 

 way made rough work, and the saw had a 

 way of scattering those light splints all over 

 the shop So I took half a dozen old sepa- 

 rators, more or less daubed with propolis, 

 put them in a press in a warm place for a 

 few minutes, and then cut the lot up as 

 though they were a single board. Eureka! 

 Then 1 took new separators and piled them 

 up, dipping each alternate separator into 

 melted beeswax, then put the pile into a press 

 until the wax was cold. This pile was then 

 sawed up as though it were a solid board. 

 The best work was done by a thin fine- 

 toothed saw without set, lainning at a high 

 rate of speed. With this I could readily 

 slice off splints at the rate of 250 a minute, 

 all nice and exact. The wax did not clog up 

 the saw in the least; and as the splints were 

 to be soaked in hot wax anyhow, it was no 

 detriment, but an advantage in handling 

 that they were stuck together. 



FIXING UP OLD HIVE-CORNERS. 



Perhaps bee-keepers in the East are not 

 much troubled by hives gaping open at the 

 corners; but in the dry climate of Colorado 

 it is a very common fault, especially with 

 the Dovetailed hive as it was made several 

 years ago, with the top edge of the ends of 

 the hives coming between the sides. The 

 cracks thus made are very wasteful of the 

 heat of the hive, and sometimes become large 

 enough to admit robbers. This does not do 

 much harm as long as they are occupied by 

 strong colonies; but if you stack up such 

 hives or supers containing honey where the 

 bees can get at them, you are likely to have 

 trouble. 



To put such hives in order I have a pair of 

 cabinetmakers' clamps, by the use of which 

 the corners may be brought up square and 

 true. While they are held thus they may be 

 renailed, if nailing will hold them. If not, 

 a strip of tin may be nailed around the cor- 

 ner, using small nails. This holds the parts 

 together and closes up any crack that may 

 be left. A coat of paint on such a hive after 

 it has been fixed up will make it look about 

 as well as ever, and good for years of service 

 thereafter. Instead of the tin, a wooden 

 cleat may be nailed across the end of the 

 hive flush with the top. This makes the hive 

 much stronger, but requires the use of a dif- 

 ferent cover from those in common use. 



The Department of Agriculture's definition 

 of honey, as given in circular No. 19, says 

 that "Honey is the nectar and saccharine 

 exudations of plants, gathered, modified, 

 and stored in the comb by honey-bees {Apis 



