1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



205 



WIRE-CLOTH SEPARATORS. 



Another Bee-keeper Who Believes 

 that this Form of Separator has 

 too Many Advantages to be 

 Neglected. 



BY H. H. ROOT. 



Mr. W. C. Sorter, of Wickliffe, O., 

 has been experimenting for several years 

 with wire-cloth separators. He has 

 found that they are cjuite expensive, 

 but, at the same time, he believes that 

 they have a great many advantages. Fig. 

 1 shows different forms of separators 

 that Mr. Sorter has tried in the effort to 

 produce a separator that would hold its 

 shape and yet not cost too much. He 

 believes that, if the manufacturers of 

 wire cloih could be induced to incorpo- 

 rate a stiff wire on both sides of a strip 

 just wide enough to make separators, 

 the problem might be solved. He 

 thought that possibly something in the 

 nature of a heavy wire combined with 

 a selvage edge might be obtained at no 

 great expense. 



The principal advantage of the wire-cloth sep- 

 arator, as Mr. Sorter looks at it, is that the sec- 

 tions may be filled more rapidly, and that each 

 section is filled fuller than those between any 

 other kind of separators, so that it contains an 

 ounce or two more honey than the same size of 

 section used with the average separator. It has 

 been found that the bees bring the cappings of 

 the comb closer to a wire-cloth separator than to 

 either the solid or slatted form. To prove this 

 Mr. Sorter showed us several sections filled be- 

 tween combination wooden-slat and wire-cloth 

 separators. Fig. 2 shows two of these sections, 

 also the particular style of separator just beneath 

 that was used. It will be noted that these are 

 4X5 sections, and, of course, in the supers they 

 stand on the ends rather than on the sides, as 



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FIG. 2. — CO.VIB HONKV PRODUCED BETWEEN WIRE SEPARATORS. 



It will be noticed that the central part of the comb, which was covered only by wire, was 

 considerably thicker than that near the top and bottom covered by the wooden slat. This 

 (hows that sections tilled between the wire separators will contain more honey than those be- 

 tween ordinary separators. 



\. — DIFFERENT FORMS OF WIRE SEPARATORS USED BV 

 W. C. SORTER, WICKLIFFE, O. 



shown in the engraving. The combs were bulg- 

 ed slightly in the middle, which part was covered 

 only by the wire cloth. That part of the comb 

 nearest the tops and bottoms of the sections was 

 not built out nearly as close to the edge of the 

 section. The same results were secured in all su- 

 pers where wire-cloth separators were used; that 

 is, the sections were filled fuller, so that they 

 weighed an ounce or two more. The combs were 

 not bulged enough to go beyond the edge of the 

 section, but were built out a little fuller than 

 those in sections divided by the regular slatted 

 separators or fences. With sepaiators made whol- 

 ly of the wire cloth, the whole comb is uniform- 

 ly thicker. 



Some objection has been made heretofore be- 

 cause the bees attached combs to the wire cloth;, 

 but Mr. Sorter says that, 

 although once in a while 

 he has noticed combs at- 

 tached to the wooden 

 slats, he has never seen 

 them attached to the wire 

 cloth, and he thinks that 

 any trouble from this 

 source would be very 

 slight. 



Of course, the wire-cloth 

 principle as applied to sep- 

 arators is not new. It 

 was made the subject of a 

 patent by N. N. Betsinger, 

 in the early 80's, and in 

 later years has been used 

 with much satisfaction by 

 S. D. House, of Camillus, 

 N. Y. Mr. House reports 

 that sections are better, 

 plumper, and more evenly 

 filled behind wire-cloth 

 separators than behind any 

 others — exactly corres- 

 ponding with Mr. Sorter's, 

 experience. 



