THE aMERICSN BEE JOURnMILf. 



565 



SIJ.n.tlKR. 



But who the inelndios of morn can tell? 

 The wild brouk bahblinji: down the mountain's side; 

 The lowing herd, the Bheep-fold'a simple bell; 

 The pipe of early shepherd dim descried 

 In the lone valley, echoing far and wide; 

 Tlie clamorous liorn iiIouk the cUffs abuve; 

 'J'hc hollow niurmur ot* the ocean tide; 

 The hum of bees: the linnet's lay of love; 

 And the full choir tliat walks the universal grove. 



SeutUe. 



% 



I§ tile Preference for Iialian 

 Bee§ Oeneral ? 



Written fur the American Bee Journal 



(toerr 652.— 1. Do bce-kecpere in general 

 deem it profitable to keep the apiary stocked 

 with pure Italian bees? 2. Is not their gea- 

 tloness, and consequent easier manipulation. 

 the chief reasons for desiring them ?— Mich. 



I SO prefer. — (i. M. Doolittle. 

 1. Ye.s. 2. No.— A. B. M.\son. 

 1. I think so. 2. Hardly. — C. C. 

 Miller. 



1. I think uot. 2. It is Ijut one 

 reason — H. D. C'utting. 



1. I think not. 2. Yes, I so lielieve, 

 together with their color.— R. L. Tay- 

 lor. 



1. Yes. 2. And lioney-harvestiug 

 <lualitios, with their greater resistance 

 to moths and robbers. — Dadant & Son. 



1. They do. 2. Not wholly— they 

 are better honey-gatherers. — J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



1. I hardly think so. 2. I think that 

 they are superior ; but the amiability is 

 the main point. — A. J. Cook. 



I guess the testimony is about 

 equally divided ; there are many smart 

 bee-keepers (who are right), on both 

 sides of the fence. My experience 

 has always been in favor of the pure 

 Italians. — Will M. Barndji. 



1. Yes, or at least as nearly as the 

 smToundings will admit. 2. No more 

 so than their business qualities. — J. M. 

 Hambaugh. 



1. Yes, as far as I know. 2. Yes, 

 partly so ; but we can add, for their 

 superiority in every other respect. — 



P. L. VlALLON. 



1. Yes. 2. No. They are more 

 profitable, and can better protect their 

 combs against the moth. — Mrs. L. 

 Harrison. 



1. Yes. 2. I think they are kept 

 more for their honey-gathering qualities 

 than their gentleness or quietness. — 

 Mahala B. Chaddock. 



1. I think not. 2. Yes, undoubtedl3- 

 a good reason, too, especially' when 

 they are ecjual to the Germans in most 

 other respects. — J. M. Sntx k. 



1. I do not know what bee-keepers 

 in general think. As to honey-gather- 

 ing, I have found bees of mixed blood 

 quite equal to pure ones. The gentle- 

 ness of pure Italian Ix-es is one of their 

 most desirable qualities. — M. Mahin. 

 ■ 1. It would seem so, but it is my 

 opinion that when crossed with other 

 races, gi-eater practical results may be 

 obtaineil. 2. No ; I think that "they 

 are considered more beautiful and 

 attractive than the dark races. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



1. As a rule, I think they do. 2. Not 

 by any means ; X\wj posess manj- other 

 qualities to recommend them, among 

 which is that of fighting moth-worms, 

 which they will not allow to remain in 

 their hives. — .1. E. Pond. 



I like the Italians for gentleness, but 

 I do not like the color of their white 

 comb honey. The whitest and clean- 

 est of propolis is produced by Carnio- 

 lans. I aim to increase from the most 

 thrifty bees, rather than pure blood. — 

 C. H. Dibbern. 



I do not know ; but I do know that 

 few do it. I can s|)eak for mj'self, and 

 say "No ;" besides there is nee<l of 

 having crosses and any less gentle than 

 the purest of any race, provided the 

 apiary is properly handled. Good 

 "hybrids "are just as easily handletl 

 as any bees on earth. — ^James Heddon. 



1. I do not know, as I am not ac- 

 quainted with the practice of any con- 

 siderable number of the great " army." 

 2. I presume that is one reason for 

 desiring them ; but if that were their 

 only recommend, I believe that •' Ijee- 

 keepers in general '" would take a few 

 stings for the sake of the " filthj- lucre" 

 which bees bred for business bring. — 

 Eugene Secor. 



I. It is not vciy easy to know or say 

 what the " general " feeling is on this 

 subject. I know that a great manj' 

 apiarists deem itprotitable to keep and 

 work Italian bees in preference to any 

 other race of bees, or any mixed race 

 or races. But as tlie first crosses be- 

 tween the Italians and the black bees 

 make good workers, very many houe}'- 

 producers are content to tolerate the 

 Italian race in a mixed state. I have 

 found it profitable to keep pure Italian 

 bees, though it has required continual 

 Avatchfulness, and I have never had 

 a visitor to see my apiary, that was 

 not more than pleased with the sight 

 of a pure Italian apiary. — G. W. Dem- 

 aree. 



1. The opinions of " bee-keepers in 

 general "are very much mixed, and 

 really prove nothing, except that they 

 generally disagree about it. 2. Their 

 qualities of industry and hardihood, 

 coupled with their l)eauty and docility, 

 are their chief reconmiendations.— The 

 Editor. 



HONEY-SECTIONS. 



Wliat ivaw the Origin of tlie 

 Honey-Seetion ? 



Written for tlie American Bee Jourmd 



BY L. C. WHITING. 



In Vol. II, page 110, of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, is an article written 

 by BraiUow and copieil from Bcinenzei- 

 tmig, describing a frame like those of 

 the body of the hive, but used in the 

 super in place of boxes. Section-boxes 

 were simply an improvement on these 

 frames. 



Which was first will be hard to find 

 out. Vol. Ill, page 114, tells us that 

 Jas. McMuUen jint frames in his boxes 

 and reduced the depth to 6i inches. 

 In Vol. Ill, page 150, T. F. Bingham 

 speaks of the McMullen frame "as a 

 link in the long chain of facts, obtained 

 accidentally and by experiment in 

 various parts of the country, and is of 

 the greatest importance." 



Vol. Ill, page 155, in an article 

 signed A. Novici^ ; the writer speaks of 

 these frames, as though they were not 

 yet suitaljle for marketing hone}'. 



Vol. Ill, page 218, tells us that Giles 

 B. Avery makes his boxes to contain 

 nine small frames, four of which just 

 fill one large frame in the hive. 



In 1874, Baker & Dicer advertised 

 their dovetailed sectional-honey-box, 

 and oflered $500 reward for an}' box 

 that would beat it. The sections were 

 6x6x2, and were held together by past- 

 ing paper over the sections, making a 

 box long enough to cover the hive, 

 with wooden separators and glass 

 ends. These were the first dovetailed 

 sections brought to my notice. 



About this time Capt. J. E. Hether- 

 ington sent 25,000 pounds of section- 

 honey to market, glassed on both sides 

 of each section. He had his section 

 patented with a view of controling the 

 market of honey put up in this shape. 

 The frame was 6x6x2. 



The Harbison frames, 5x61x2 inches, 

 were first mentioned in the market re- 

 ports of 1874. Harbison's sections 

 wore nailed together, as were most of 

 the sections up to this date. 



Other bee-keepers were improving 

 their way of making boxes. H. Alley 

 made a box to hold two pounds. Man- 

 um's dovetailed sections, made of 

 white-popular, soon made their appear- 

 ance. Up to this time a large portion 

 of the honey sent to market was put up 

 in boxes holding from 4 to 40 jjounds. 

 The V-grooved section followed the 

 basket splint section, as the dovetailed 

 section followed the frame. 



