March IS, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL 



167 



but expected to get reports in handling' supplies. Owinp to 

 the shortness of the rejjular stock, some 4'4x4;4xl'> sec- 

 tions were used by a few. Mrs. Booth likes them, but 

 doesn't think of adopting^ them. Carl Moon thinks the same. 

 The others have not exprest themselves. The main objec- 

 tion is they are too expensive. Even admitted that they 

 would be cheaper, honey is sold by weig'ht, and we have to 

 take a correspondingly jjreater number of sections to make 

 it out. There is more comb surface, therefore more foun- 

 dation required. Perhaps honey would really cost a trifle 

 more to produce in plain sections. One reason why they 

 were not tried more here is that many have supplies left 

 over from the previous season. 



Mr. Root — It is hardly fair to compare the tall plain 

 sections with the 4%xlyi. Under like conditions, if the 

 separators are exactly the same as those used with the 4'4X- 

 1% sections, that is, if plain sections are used with cleated 

 plain separators, they will not be filled any better, because 

 it makes no difference whether room is taken by a cleat on 

 the separator or by the same amount of wood in the sec- 

 tion. If 4'4' full bee-way sections, with the corners cut 

 down, are used for comparison instead of the scallopt sec- 

 tions, then the conditions are exactly the same. Some 

 think more honey is produced without separators. I don't 

 know. But the fences are the next thing' to having no sep- 

 arators. As to the attachment of the combs to the fences, 

 we have had only one other such report. Attachment to 

 plain separators also happens, but is thought rare. If any 

 bees are inclined to attach to plain separators, those same 

 bees might be inclined to attach to the fences. I have seen 

 thousands of pounds of honey in plain sections in New 

 York, and saw no burr-combs attacht. But the 4x5 sections 

 can hardly be compared with the 4 '4 square section. A 

 plain section equally as well filled as an old-style section 

 will appear to be better filled. I recently secured the state- 

 ment of four leading commission-houses in regard to plain 

 sections. They all preferred the plain sections because 

 they appeared fuller. 



F. Rauchfuss — In Mesa County 700 of these plain-sec- 

 tion supers were sold last year. 



J. B. Adams — I tried one super of the 4x5 sections. 

 They were not fastened to the fences. 



Mr. Root — A good many have the impression that the 

 comb is even with the wood in plain sections, but it is not 

 so. The wood does project a little. A super with fences 

 on a weak colony is not filled so soon as one with tight sep- 

 arators. Where the colonies are strong we have had a good 

 many reports that the sections are entered sooner. Other 

 reports have been just the reverse. In regard to the fast- 

 ening of the combs to the cleats, the comb is more apt to be 

 fastened to a narrow cleat. 



Pres. Aikin — My opinion was once askt about the thick- 

 ness of the cleats. I said 2/12 of an inch was too thick. 

 This is the confirmation. Bees sometimes work out to the 

 cleats, and then round the comb out. For years I have 

 been dissatisfied with the scallopt section. I have used sec- 

 tions with bee-ways clear across. The combs were always 

 nicely finisht. I would prefer the plain section scallopt out 

 a little. I do feel favorably toward the fences. I was ex- 

 perimenting with fences before Mr. Root took hold of them. 

 When he took hold then I quit. I thought I would let others 

 do the experimenting. 



Mr. Root — The New York bee-keepers claim that the 

 corners of a comb are better filled out in a notcht section. 

 In a scallopt section the combs are rounding at the corners. 



Mr. Martin — Would it justify the extra amount of 

 labor to use the fences ? 



CD Mr. Root — I have seen fences that had been in use nine 

 yeais at Mr. Morton's. All they need is a little scraping 

 across the cleats and along the slats. 



czi F. Rauchfuss — Mr. Root, have you any reports of the 

 Hyde-SchoU separator ? 



Mr. Root — We have had one report. If made of wood it 

 is not durable. Even if it is of tin it is a flimsy affair. 

 fContinued next week.] 



Please send us Names of Bee=Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses.when writing us on 

 other matters. 



* • » 



The Premiums offered on page 173 are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



The Amount of comb occupied with brood just before 

 the flow commences is the right number of frames to have 

 in the brood-chamber during the flow. — DooLi'yTLE, in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture. 



Get Colonies Strong for the Main Harvest is the 



rule with L. Stachelhausen. His experience, as well as 

 that of many others, is that while a colony of 20,000 bees 

 may store no surplus, one of 30,000 may store 20 pounds, 

 and one of 60,000 may store not only 40 pounds, but 120 or 

 more. But he wants as few bees as possible at a time when 

 bees are consumers only. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Introduction of Queens. — M. Giraud-Pabou repoJts in 

 L'Apiculteur that he introduces queens by rolling the 

 queen in honey, then placing her between two combs well 

 covered with bees. The colony must be queenless from one 

 to nine days. Of 80 laying queens thus introduced, only 

 three were refused. Virgins are introduced in the same 

 way, only the colony must be queenless at least two days. 

 Of 68 virgins thus introduced, 55 were accepted. This 

 method of introduction was much in vogue years ago, but 

 was not always considered successful. 



Cold With and Without Wind In Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture the point is emphasized that 10 degrees above zero 

 may be worse than 20 degrees below without wind. Dr. 

 Miller thinks Marengo, with its all-day-long prairie winds, 

 is a worse place for wintering than many places away 

 North. Editor Root says : 



" If this is true, it behooves us to put up windbreaks in 

 the shape of high board fences or evergreen trees. It will 

 be remembered that the winter losses out-doors at Medina 

 have been very low — scarcely ever exceeding 5 percent, and 

 usually about 2 percent. Our apiary is shielded on the 

 north and west sides by a solid phalanx of evergreen trees 

 from 20 to 30 feet high ; and on the east and south b)' brick 

 buildings and lumber-piles. The result is, that on the days 

 of our highest winds there is comparative quiet in the api- 

 ary. True it is, there is a great roar of the wind from with- 

 out, but there are only slight air currents within. A wind- 

 break of evergreens does not cost much, and is perpetual 

 after it is once put down. One consisting of a barn and 

 out-buildings, with an occasional stretch of a board fence 

 on the north and west sides, would be equallj' effective ; 

 and I am satisfied that the slight expense of maintaining 

 the fence or trees would be made up in a few years' time, 

 ten times over, in the saving of many colonies of bees, and 

 preventing others from getting so weak that they are prac- 

 tically useless for honey -production." 



Cameras for Taking Half-Tone Pictures — At first 

 blush, that hardly seems to be a subject germane to bee- 

 keeping, but really it has come to be decidedly so. Pictures 

 add no little to the pleasure of reading bee-papers, and 

 sometimes a glance at an illustration gives one a better 

 idea of some implement than a whole column of reading- 

 matter. A late number of the Bee-Keepers' Review gave 

 rather a discouraging view to those who had kodaks, which 

 are so common, saying their pictures are passably sharp, 

 but that is all, and to get really fine work one must have an 

 adjustable focus. The following from Editor Root, of 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture, is reassuring to the kodak fiend : 



" Bro. Hutchinson seems to have gotten a wrong im- 

 pression of a kodak. Only a few of the cameras bearing 

 that name are of the fixt focus type ; but their pictures are 

 very sharp — much better than 'passably sharp.' But 

 those of the adjustable-focus type of the same grade, and 

 with the same stop, give no better results. There are high- 

 grade kodaks of both kinds, and either gives the same 

 sharpness of detail. Why, the smallest pocket size of fixt 

 focus with a picture l'2x2 will make a picture so sharp that 

 it can be enlarged to 10x12 inches. The sharpness of detail 

 is dependent, not upon the fixt or adjustable focus, but 

 upon the price paid. All instruments bearing the name 

 ' Kodak ' are of the highest grade." 



