July 12. 1906 



American T*ee Journal Ik 



lis, in reference to the next Indiana State Fair and its api- 

 arian display : 



The Indiana State Fair, which begins Sept. 10, 1906, has offered 

 $25s in premiums in the bee-department this year. Competition is 

 open to the world, and no restrictions required. For this liberal offer 

 much credit is due Mr. Mason J. Niblack, of Vincennes, a member of 

 the State Board of Agriculture. Mr. Niblack will have personal 

 charge of this department, and as he is an enthusiastic bee-keeper, 

 this means that exhibitors will have fair treatment, and that ellicient 

 judges will be appointed. Bee-keepers from everywhere are invited 

 to come and bring the best they can produce. Here is the list of pre- 

 miums in full: 



Premiums — 1st 2d 3d 

 Display of comb honey, quality, quantity and manner of 



putting up for market considered $25 ¥15 ss 



Display of extracted honey, quality, quantity and manner of 



putting up for market considered 25 15 8 



Display of beeswax, quantity and quality to be considered. . 10 8 6 



Honey-vinegar, not less than 1 gallon, in glass 5 3 2 



One-frame observatory hive of Italian bees, showing queen, 



workers and brood in all stages 10 8 6 



One-frame observatory hive of foreign bees, other than Ital- 

 ians, showing queen, workers, and brood in all stage6.. 10 8 6 



Display of bee-supplies 20 10 5 



Best general display of honey, beeswax, supplies, and other 



material pertaining to the bee-industry 20 10 5 



Any one wantiog a premium-list can get it free by addressing 

 Chas. Downing, Secretary, State Board of Agriculture, Indianapolis, 

 Ind. Walter S. Pouder. 



We congratulate the bee keepers of Indiana on their fine 

 State Fair Premium-list. Surely they should put up a great 

 display, and show themselves worthy of the generous treat- 

 ment accorded them by their State Board of Agriculture. 



f \ Con hi but ed 

 lyl,, Articles 



The Best Size of Honey-Section 



BY L. V. KICKETTS. 



IT seems that Mr. T. K. Massie, on page 370, has gotten 

 the wrong impression of my meaning in that part of 

 my article on page 252 referring to "good company." 

 Of course, I consider Mr. Massie and Dr. Bohrer, as well 

 as all the other writers in the "Old Reliable," as good com- 

 pany. Vet I suppose Mr. Massie will allow me to "go it 

 alone" (as far as Mr. Hasty is concerned) on the subject 

 of full-weight sections; and especially after Mr. Hasty has 

 said that he could not join my procession. 



Mr. Massie says that he indorses all that has been said 

 against the use of lighter weight sections. "But when Mr. 

 Rickctts proposes to adopt a section V/% inches thick, I 

 emphatically object. There are too many objections to 

 combs over \Y% inches thick, to adopt the thick ones he 

 proposes." Mr. Massie proposes a section 4 I 4x5xlfSj inches, 

 saying that such a section will hold (average) a full pound. 



Now, in the article referred to by Mr. Massie, I men- 

 tioned only the V/% bee-way sections. I have proven (as 

 stated in a previous article) that in this part of the country 

 4J4 X 4/4 XI % bee-way sections, when fairly well filled with 

 separatored honey, weigh an average of only 14 2-3 ounces. 

 The heaviest section of the ones used in arriving at the 

 average weight, was a 4%x4/4xl<-8, two-bee-way section, well 

 and evenly filled with separatored honey, the comb averag- 

 ing 1 J/2 inches thick and weighing 16 ounces, wood in the 

 section included. A comb of separatored honey, V/2 inches 

 thick, I believe is as thick as we are likely ever to get in a 

 1% inch bee-way section; and the average thickness, I be- 

 lieve, from repeated observations, will not be more than 

 i-is inches. A comb 01 this thickness in a 4 r /;x4;4 section 

 will not weigh 16 ounces. 



Now, if we should adopt a bee-way section 4 I 4 X 5 XI '^ 

 inches, as Mr. Massie proposes, the average thickness of 

 the separatored combs would likely be not more than ~$ inch. 

 This I consider to be too thin for general satisfaction — too 

 much comb-foundation and capping, and not enough real 



honey. I think there is little danger of getting many combs 

 thicker than i$4 inches built in 1 5-inch sections with separa- 

 tors. 



As a farther proof that the i~z inch section is not 

 generally considered too thick, 1 will cite Mr. Root when 

 called upon to speak on "Size of Sections." He said, "At 

 present in the United States, sections sell in this order; 

 The lYt bee-way 4J4x4>4 sections sell best. " (Page 340.) 

 Mr. Root is, of course, good authority on this subject. 



If Mr. Massie had proposed a 454x5x1 y A inches, bee- 

 way sections, instead of one only \Y% inches thick, I might 

 have joined his procession, as the 4%x.$xi}i section was 

 carefully considered by me at the time that I proposed the 

 454x45-8x1 Jls section. The ifil inch bee-way section is too thin 

 for me. 



The reasons for my proposing the 4}4x4 I 4xi% i ncn sec " 

 tion in preference to all others, are given on page 695 (1905), 

 and I have learned no reason, as yet, to make any change. 

 A section 4j4x454xi}4 ' ncn es is a good one, and, like the 

 454x4-%xi% inches, will weigh (average) 16 ounces when 

 filled with separatored honey. Either of the two last-named 

 sections is an improvement on the sections in general use at 

 present, and if put into general use would increase the sale 

 and consumption of comb honey more than anything else 

 beekeepers can do. Pullman, Wash. 



Institutes and Conventions as Educators 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



T O-day education counts for more than ever before. 

 "Educated fool," "book farmer," and other such phrases 

 are more and more going into disuse. The reason 

 is plain. Educated nations, no less than educated people, 

 are forging to the front. "Little Japan" forced terms from 

 "Big Russia" because she had laid firm hold of this best 

 weapon in warfare as in peaceful employ — Education. The 

 same good friend won the easy victory in the Franco-Prus- 

 sian war, and has pushed Germany away to the front in all 

 good lines of progress. General education, and ready oppor- 

 tunity to acquire the same, even for the poorest boy or 

 girl, has more than aught else made our own country the 

 best and grandest of the world. The same is true of men. 

 Carnegie once doubted the value of education in prac- 

 tical affairs. To-day he is its most able advocate and patron. 

 He has seen education march to the head in the shop. 

 Educated farmers in California— everywhere — are distanc- 

 ing those without culture. Even in our bee-keeping ranks, 

 the Langstroths, Hetheringtons, Taylors, Hutchinsons, Hed- 

 drons, Doolittles, Millers, Hatches, etc., are educated men. 

 True, not college-trained, all of them, but the college is 

 not a necessary step to education, though a most helpful 

 one. Horace Greeley was never in college, but who would 

 say he was not an educated man? He would be first to say 

 that the modern college would have made the steps much 

 shorter and vastly easier. 



University Extension. 



Today one of the efficient agents in educating all — 

 and especially the masses — is the Institute, Convention, etc. 

 The college in every State goes to those who can not come 

 to it. In agriculture this is the "Farmer's Institute." Our 

 conventions, associations and clubs are of the same ilk. 

 They all bring the college and scientific ways and methods 

 to the people. So it is one of the glories of today, that 

 the college is not the exclusive benefactor of those who come 

 to its lecture-halls, but it reaches with its equipment and 

 facilities to all classes. 



The Farmer's Institute. 



As one who has been actively engaged in institute work 

 ever since Michigan inaugurated this regular system of edu- 

 cation, in 1875, I have watched its growth and power with 

 growing appreciation and pleasure. The farmer's institutes 

 of the United States have done a marvelous work for our 

 farmers. Through their teaching, methods of work and prac- 

 tice have been revolutionized in more than one State, and 

 often to the tremendous gain of the farmers financially. 



As every institute would have "Bees" and "Honey Pro- 

 duction" onits program, so every bee-keeper should be in- 

 terested in these meetings. 



