74 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



50,000 sections, and one or two thou- 

 sands of odd sizes. 



We frequently have orders, especially 

 from foi'eign countries, of several hun- 

 dred thousands of the 4^^x43;^ size, 

 with, perhaps, 5 per cent, of odd sizes, 

 and in such cases we endeavor to make 

 the price in accordance with the actual 

 amount of the difference in timber. 



There is no question but what it is 

 desirable to only have one or two sizes 

 of sections used. 



As to the possibility of It, we do not 

 think it can be done, as long as there 

 are so many bee-keepers who use odd 

 sizes of sections. They will continue to 

 do so, if they can get any of the manu- 

 facturers to make them. 



We see no good reason why the manu- 

 facturer should not do so, though we 

 think manufacturers have made a mis- 

 take in reducing the price so much, on 

 odd sizes. 



We may be as much to blame as 

 others, but the reason of our moderate 

 charges, on odd sizes, is owing to compe- 

 tition. 



The W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co. 



It may be said we are not to consider 

 the interests of manufacturers, but of 

 bee-keepers. Allow me to say that 

 when you make production easier for 

 'them, I am quite sure you make cost 

 less to us. There should be a mutual 

 understanding, and the manufacturer 

 should, as he surely does, study the 

 wants of the bee-keeper, and the bee- 

 keeper should study the convenience of 

 the manufacturer. Suppose you say to 

 a manufacturer, "We are quite divided 

 as to our views of the right size of sec- 

 tion, and we want you to keep in stock 

 ten different sizes," and I believe we are 

 really doing just that thing now. He 

 will do it, just because we demand it, 

 but he could keep on hand a much larger 

 stock, and could manufacture at less 

 cost if you demand only one or two 

 sizes. 



Please set it down as a fixed fact, that 

 when you consult the convenience of the 

 manufacturer, and make his work more 

 profitable, part of that profit is bound 

 to come back into your own pocket. 



So I am of the opinion that it would 

 be a good thing for this society to say, 

 "We believe it would be profitable for 

 bee-keepers, so far as possible, to give 

 the preference to the one or two sizes 

 agreed upon by us." Of course that 

 would leave every man free to use the 

 size he likes best, but it would give just 

 so much of an impulse in the right 

 direction. 



The question assigned to me by the 

 Secretary does not touch upon the ques- 

 tion as to what is the best size for a 

 standard, but I crave your indulgence 

 while I say just a little about that. The 

 4j^x4}4 is already so nearly a standard 

 size that it is very likely to gain that 

 place without any aid from this society, 

 but proper action may hasten it. But, 

 suppose we agree upon that size, what 

 is to be the width ? We have 2 inches, 

 and, then by going down by sixteenths, 

 all sizes to perhaps IJ-o- 



The grocers, or at least a good many 

 of them, are anxious that -sections shall 

 average less than a pound each, and I 

 think I am not mistaken when I say 

 that some of them want them to weigh 

 less than a pound each, so that they can 

 buy them by actual weight, and then 

 sell them, without weighing, for one 

 pound each. Now, I would like to see a 

 standard adopted that would be so much 

 less than a pound that they could not be 

 sold for a pound each. I do not want 

 to be a party to cheating, and I am 

 afraid I have been. As a general rule, 

 1 15/16 will run less than a pound 

 each, but 1% would sooner be detected 

 as a thief if it attempted to pass itself 

 off for a pound. So, it would be well not 

 to have our standard more than 1%, and 

 perhaps it should be no less. There are 

 other reasons why 1% is a good size, 

 among which is the reason that such a 

 size can be conveniently used in most of 

 the supers in use, and allow of wedg- 

 ing up. Possibly, 1% would be still 

 better. In favor of these two sizes is 

 the fact that they are already favorites. 

 If this convention agrees upon one or 

 two standard sizes of sections, and does 

 something toward grading comb-honey, 

 it will not have met in vain. 



C. C. Miller. 



H. Sogelken — We want a secti|)n that 

 weighs less than a pound. We' would 

 not object to a section that weighs a 

 pound, but it must not weigh more. 



S. Cornell — I think our oblong section 

 (higher than wide) is the most hand- 

 some. It also appears to contain more 

 honey than a square section. 



H. R. Wright — A thin, large section 

 is the one for my market. A bee-keeper ■« 

 should furnish his product in such shape 

 as will suit his customers — the commis- 

 sion men. If the commission men buys 

 and sells by weight, that is all right, 

 and if the retailer sells by the piece, 

 that is his business. Every bee-keeper 

 ought to put up his product in that 

 manner that will bring him the most 



