(Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn Street. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL., JULY 26, 1906 



Vol. XLVI-No. 30 



Cdiforial ^Nofes 

 and Comments 



Sections of Honey Can't Be Uniform in Weight 



One of the things which has divided opinion for a long 

 time, and which bids fair to divide opinion for a long time 

 to come, relates to the weight of sections and the selling by 

 piece or by pound. One argues the great convenience of 

 selling by the piece ; another argues the great fairness of 

 selling by weight. Every little while, some one, to whom 

 the question is new, appears on the scene with what he 

 thinks is a satisfactory solution of the troublesome prob- 

 lem, and says : "The whole thing is easy ; just adopt that 

 size of section which shall weigh an exact pound, and then 

 it will make no difference whether the section is sold by the 

 piece or the pound." But when he attempts to produce a 

 ton of honey with 2000 sections, each weighing an exact 

 pound, he finds himself runningagainst a snag. 



The great difficulty in the whole case is the difficulty of 

 producing sections of honey of uniform weight, and this 

 difficulty is too often not fully understood, or else lost sight 

 of, by those who discuss the question. The matter is some- 

 what complex, several factors having a part in it. Let us 

 suppose we have found a section of such size that we think 

 it will weigh when filled just 16 ounces, and let us see some 

 of the things that will interfere with having that weight 

 constant. 



Let a colony be badly crowded for room, and the sec- 

 tions will be considerably heavier than when more room is 

 furnished than the bees have any possible use for. This, 

 however, is a difficulty that can be largely avoided by the 

 careful operator. 



Bees vary in their characteristics, and 2 colonies, under 

 precisely the same conditions, will produce sections of 

 honey of unequal weight. Careful selection in breeding 

 may produce such uniformity throughout the apiary that 

 this factor shall practically disappear. 



At one time in the season, nectar comes in with a rush, 

 at another time very sparingly ; with fatter sections in the 

 one case, and leaner in the other. Against this the bee- 

 keeper has no remedy. 



Not only is there a diffence between one part of the 

 season and another part, but there may be a radical differ- 

 ence between one season and another — a difference against 

 which the bee-keeper is utterly helpless. 



There may be other differences, but these are enough. 

 If the difference in weight between the lightest and heaviest 

 section of honey were only a fraction of an ounce, it might 

 be ignored as unworthy attention. But when a difference 

 of 3 to 6 ounces is found between the lightest and the heav- 

 iest sections, and when there is a difference of 2 ounces or 

 more in the average weight at one time and another, as 



some have said is the case, this matter is one that must be 

 taken into account. 



It is not the present object to argue whether it is better 

 to sell sections by the piece or by weight, the only object 

 being to show that to find a section of such size that it shall 

 always weigh an exact pound is one of the things that may 

 be dreamd of, but never attained in actual practise. 



Improvement of Bee-Stock 



D. M. Macdonald wisely says this in the British Bee 

 Journal : 



If bee-keepers would only spend half as much time over this 

 question as they do over some other things, the whole bee-keeping 

 world would be better off. 



Neither does that mean that a few of the greater lights 

 should turn their attention to it ; for every bee-keeper with 

 only S colonies can make a difference in his yields by seeing 

 that new queens come from his best colonies. And as has 

 been heretofore shown, he may do no little in this direction 

 without ever seeing a queen — even with box-hives. 



Economizing Apiary Ground-Room 



It is often desirable to have hives as close together as 

 possible for the sake of saving room, and always desirable 

 for the sake of saving travel from one hive to another. By 

 putting the hives in pairs, the two hives of each pair so 

 close as to be almost touching, 60 percent more can be put 

 on the same ground without increased danger of bees, and 

 especially of virgin queens, entering the wrong hive. In 

 Gleanings, E. F. Atwater offers a plan to help still more 

 against this danger. It is to have the alternate pairs at dif- 

 ferent heights ; the first pair on a low stand, the next 12 or 

 18 inches, and so on. 



Sweet Clover on a Large Scale 



In the following communication from W. H. Mills, of 

 Nebraska, he mentions as a disadvantage that the plant 

 is a biennial, hence there is a year's waiting for the nectar, 

 no bloom appearing the first year, the plant dying root and 

 branch after blooming in its second year. Some have prac- 

 tised after this fashion : Sow sweet clover with oats, get- 

 ting the crop of oats to pay for the land while the sweet 

 clover is making its first year's growth ; let it alone the 

 second year, then plow up and sow oats the third year, and 

 every alternate year thereafter. The first year will be the 

 only seeding with sweet clover, as it will self-sow thereafter. 

 There would be no difficulty in land like that of Mr. Mills, 

 which does not heave in winter, but in some soils it would 

 be necessary either to roll the ground very hard or to bury 

 the seed deep. But here is what he says : 



I make no use whatever of catnip except for the bees, and only 

 grow it about the fences and hedges, and in a small way in the fields. 



Sweet clover can be used for hay, and makes splendid hay, but 

 does not get made into hay on this place for lack of time to do it. 



I had 40 acres seeded in sweet clover, but some of it is so thin a 

 stand that I am plowing it up, and shall reseed this fall. Our soil 

 never heave6, as it is sandy. 



