338 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



piece, in most cases. Some 15 or 20 years 

 ago grocers weighed out nearly every thing 

 they sold. Sugar, coffee, rice, and spices of 

 all kinds were bought in the bulk and weigh- 

 ed up in any amount that was wanted. The 

 grocer now hands out a fourth or a half 

 pound, all done up in a nice package. With 

 this method of handling goods there is no 

 shrinkage, and the grocers like it, and will 

 handle nothing but package goods, in many 

 cases, on this account. This is the way that 

 comb honey will be handled in the future; 

 and to make this possible, separators must 

 be used in the production of the honey. 



As only two springs can be used to ad- 

 vantage with this combined arrangement of 

 the super, the separators between the ex- 

 tracting-comb and the first row of sections 

 ought to be made as thick as possible so as 

 to hold the sections in place near the cent er. 



With two extracting-frames to the super, 

 one at each outside, any one can get the 

 bees to enter the supers readily, if he will 

 follow the very simple rule of putting the 

 supers on at the first opening of the clover, 

 not waiting until it begins to yield honey, 

 as that would be too late. 



I admire your desire to please your cus- 

 tomers; but I am very sure you have under- 

 taken a hopeless task. No one can please 

 every one, and the better way is to keep 

 near the beaten trail and produce your comb 

 honey in the orthodox section. Your cus- 

 tomer who complains of your selling him 

 too much wood with his 14 ounces of honey 

 would likely complain were you to produce 

 sections of honey weighing 16 ounces and 

 charge him a nickel more for it. The thin}: 

 that would really please this customer would 

 be for you to produce full pounds of honey, 

 then sell it to him, charging him for only 

 the 14 ounces as usual. 



I would advise that you continue to use 

 the 4Xx4Xxl^-inch two-bee way section, 

 and separators. Use two extracting-combs 

 in each super, one at each outside. When 

 your honey is ready, crate it in the double 

 tier or Colorado shipping-case. When ready 

 for the market, quote your price by the case, 

 not by the pound. 



Remus, Mich. 



WHY IT PAYS TO PAINT HIVES 



BY FRANK F. FRANCE 



In traveling over the country I have run 

 across whole apiaries of unpainted hives, 

 often close to apiaries owned by adjoining 

 beekeepers in which every hive was painted, 

 and I have not failed to notice the great con- 

 trast, both in durability and appearance, be- 

 tween the two. Here in the North, if the 

 hives are not painted, at least occasionally, 

 the moisture that soaks into the wood will 

 cause trouble when freezing and thawing 

 takes place. The illustration shows a hive 

 that has never been painted. The nails are 

 pulled out about an eighth of an inch, and 

 the lumber has sprung apart at the corners. 



This would not have happened if the wood 

 had been thoroughly painted in the first 

 place, so that the moisture could not be ab- 

 sorbed. A hive left unpainted in this way 

 for four or five years will require more paint 

 to get it in shape than it is worth; and on 

 this account a little paint well applied at 

 the beginning is worth a whole lot in the 

 end. Neglecting a matter of this kind is to 

 spare the cent and lose the dollar; in other 

 words, it means a new hive just a little 

 quicker. This is a serious matter, for the 

 quality of lumber is slowly deteriorating 

 and the quantity diminishing, so that the 

 price is steadily going higher. 



WHAT PAINT TO USE. 



By all means use pure paint. Pure lin- 

 seed oil and pure pigments properly united 

 are always the cheapest in the end. Some 

 department stores sell paint by the mailor- 

 der plan; but I have found it is best to deal 

 with the very best standard companies who 

 make paint a business alone, for then one is 

 much more likely to get pure material. 



FRANK F. FRANCE, SON OF N. E. FRANCE, PI.ATTE- 

 VILLE, WISCONSIN. 



Mr. France spent a year in California to get some 

 experience with the producers of the far West, and 

 now he has returned to his native State to take up 

 beekeeping in earnest. May he have as much suc- 

 cess as his father and grandfather! 



