GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUUE 



their own product; but evei-y pound of 

 drawn comb that we sold for a dollar cost 

 us, we are convinced, anywhere from two 

 to tlu-ee dollars. The machinery was con- 

 tinually breaking down ; and after we had 

 spent several thousand dollars on the prop- 

 osition we gave it up in disgust, more firmly 

 convinced than ever that man would never 

 be able to compete with bees in making 

 comb. 



There is another difficulty with Mr. 

 Hand's system, and that is that the combs 

 should be drawn the year they are put in 

 the sections, not old combs of the year be- 

 fore. As Mr. Hand says, honey from un- 

 finished sections is of inferior grade. Such 

 sections serve the purpose of bait excellent- 

 ly, but further than that they are of but 

 little use, and must be culled out and sold 

 as seconds. 



Mr. Hand has probably forgotten that 

 Dr. Jesse Oren, years and years ago, tried 

 out almost precisely the same scheme that 

 he outlines in this issue. Why he abandon- 

 ed it we do not know. About twenty years 

 ago Mr. Barnett Taylor, of Minnesota, de- 

 scribed a system very similar, with this 

 difference : He saved out all the unfinished 

 sections and extracted them. Then he had 

 a little device that he called a " comb-level- 

 er." Tliis consisted of a hot plate slightly 

 smaller than the inside of the section. An 

 unfinished section was laid on top of this, 

 and pushed down until the hot plate melted 

 the comb to about half depth. The other 

 side was treated in a like manner. Mr. 

 Taylor found he could give his bees supers 

 of these leveled-down combs in the sections, 

 and the bees accepted them at once; but his 

 plan was only a scheme to get rid of the 

 unfinished sections. If we recollect coiTect- 

 ly he soon abandoned it, as did all others. 

 Dr. Jesse Oren and Mr. Taylor both sought 

 to find some scheme whereby they could get 

 the sections filled at top, bottom, and sides 

 — hence the scheme of using drawn combs. 

 But in later years Dr. Miller discovered a 

 plan of using a bottom starter in connection 

 with a nearly full sheet fastened to the top. 

 Tliis solved the problem of getting comb 

 attachments to all four sides, and at the 

 same time allowed the foundation to stretch 

 downward as much as it would without 

 buckling. This plan of two starters has 

 proven so successful that it is now in almost 

 universal use among comb-honey producers. 



There is another difficulty with tlie drawn- 

 comb proposition : When the bees start to 

 draw them out they also start to fill them 

 with nectar at the same time. They would 

 have to be exti-acted, as the honey in them 

 would not blend with the other after the 

 bees got to storing in them again. Then the 



liquid honey or nectar clinging to the sides 

 of the cell would have to be licked up and 

 cleaned by the bees. This would take con- 

 siderable labor, both on the part of the bee- 

 man and of the bees. When cleaned out 

 they would have to be cut up and fitted into 

 sections. This labor, if we are correct, 

 would have to be performed in the midst of 

 the honey-flow just at a time when the bee- 

 man has no spare time at his disposal. On 

 the other hand, when he uses foundation he 

 can do all this work of filling the supers 

 during the winter time or early spring when 

 he is not busy. 



As stated at the outset, we have been pro- 

 ducing comb honey in extracting- frames for 

 the last six or seven years; but this has been 

 for the individual-service trade. It is not 

 l^racticable to produce comb honey in sec- 

 tions iy2 inches scjuare; but there is a de- 

 mand on the i^art of the fancy restaurant 

 and Pullman-car trade which we have been 

 supplying for pieces of comb honey IV2 

 inches square. The only way to take care 

 of this trade is to fill shallow extracting- 

 frames with super foundation, using a bot- 

 tom starter, and then get the bees to draw 

 it out, fill it with honey, and cap it over. 

 To do this requires nearlj^ the same amount 

 of skill that would be necessary in the pro- 

 duction of honey in sections. Well, after 

 we get the bees to draw it out and cap it 

 over we are ready to cut it up into small 

 squares, allow it to drain, and put it up in* 

 cartons. This we know is practical because 

 we have been working it for seven years, 

 and that very experience of seven years 

 with tliis plan enables us to fonn some 

 opinion of the plan described by our cor- 

 respondent in this issue. 



We do not wish to throw any cold water 

 on the plan outlined by ]\Ir. Hand. We 

 should like to see it tried out ; and if he or 

 any one has been successful in any plan for 

 the iDroduction of drawn combs from thin 

 super foundation, so they can cut it up and 

 insert it in sections, we shall be glad to have 

 them tell us about it. There is no doubt 

 that bees will occupj- supers containing 

 drawn combs far more readily than they 

 Avill supere containing super foundation. 

 And that is not all. The use of such drawn 

 combs, as Mr. Hand says, either in sections 

 or extracting-supers, will go a long way 

 toward the control of swarming. We are 

 convinced that one of the prime causes of 

 swarming is forcing the bees to draw out 

 comb foundation ; and it does not make 

 \er\ much difference whether the founda- 

 tion is in sections or in shallow extracting- 

 frames. On this point our friend Mr. Hand 

 may not agree with us. If wrong we shall 

 be glad to be corrected. 



