Sept. 13, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



uDd the lower range would represent the 

 price of the ordinary commercial article 

 These prices are considered moderate, and 

 somewhat below the average. Much of the 

 Jamaica honey is sold at 17s. to 18s. per cwt. 

 Australian is regarded by the principal dealers 

 here as being worth 5s. less per cwt. than 

 Jamaica; and under these circumstances 

 there does not appear to be much scope for 

 our honey in Great Britain unless it can be 



sent over at a cost of not more thau lUs. 

 (S3 'JO) per cwt., including all charges. 



Regarding the prejudice against Australian 

 honey, the feeling is apparently a deep-rooted 

 one, and it is quite possible that it is based on 

 the experience of mixed or inferior samples 

 which have reached England. If some of the 

 excellent "box" honey produced in many 

 parts of New South Wales could be sent here, 

 the bad impression might be removed. 



onfribi ted 

 Articled 



Best Size of Honey-Section 



BY T. K. MASSIE 



I have read with a deal of interest all 

 that Mr. L. V. Ricketts says on page 

 .595, in reply to my article on page 370. 

 It now appears, since we begin to un- 

 derstand each other, that there is but 

 little difference between us. We are 

 agreed that both of us want a section 

 that will average full weight — an 

 " honest pound " — and it seems that we 

 both want a comb that is about l : 's 

 inches in thickness. The difference 

 between us, then, is the method to be 

 pursued to obtain such a comb. 



I had overlooked the point that he 

 was talking about a bee-way section, 

 and it seems that he overlooked the 

 fact that I was talking about a plain 

 section, the bee-way to be carried out 

 by the separator, somewhat on the 

 plan of the fence separator. 



I like the plain section and the prin- 

 ciple of letting the separators perma- 

 nently carry the bee-way for all sec- 

 tions every year. This plan saves the 

 extra wood necessary to cut the bee- 

 ways in the sections, and avoids the 

 objections to a bee-way section. And 

 if I could get separators that were ivell 

 made I would not willingly give them 

 up; but this season's use of a lot of 

 rlimsily-made fence separators has 

 almost decided me to join Mr. Ricketts' 

 procession and call for a bee-way sec- 

 tion and plain separators. I am using 

 separators made by two different firms. 

 One has pretended to glue the end and 

 cross-piece on, and the other has pre- 

 tended to nail them on, and in each 

 case it was only a pretense. In taking 

 out sections the propolis on their edges 

 holds f r better than either the glue or 

 nails, for it pulls the separators " all 

 to pieces." Such things are a great 

 annoyance and vexation. Why certain 

 supply manufacturers will persist in 

 putting out such trashy goods is more 

 than I can imagine. 



I am testing a wire-cloth separator 

 with bee-ways secured by means of 

 folded strips of galvanized steel, only 

 the edges of the strips of the steel com- 

 ing in contact with the edges of the 

 sections. This completely overcomes 

 the propolis question, and gives all the 

 ventilation and lateral communication 

 to the bees that a 4-bee-way section 

 will give, and the corners of the sec- 



tions are never stuck to the separators 

 with propolis. 



I hope to hear from Mr. Ricketts 

 again, and see if we can't come to- 

 gether on the bee-way question. Let 

 us decide where the bee-way shall be 

 placed. He wants it in the sections 

 while I want it in the separators. This 

 question settled, it will be an easy mat- 

 ter to decide on the size of the section. 



Mr. Ricketts says that if I had pro- 

 posed a 4 / 1 4x5xl' 4 bee-way section he 

 might have joined my procession. Now 

 the section I proposed — the \%sSnsXy% 

 with bee-ways in the separators — will 

 give the same results, as he is willing 

 to accept. Where shall the bee-ways 

 be, in the sections or the separators ? 

 is clearly the only question between us. 



Tophet, W. Va. 



T-Super as Dr. Miller Uses It 



BY J. C. ARMSTRONG 



Dr. C. C. Miller : — Your explana- 

 tion of your T-supers (page 704) re- 

 moves the objections I have had to the 

 only one I ever saw, except to those I 

 have been using — theElvin Armstrong 

 pattern. I wanted some more, and 

 sent to a bee-supply dealer for T-supers, 

 and he sent me some slat-supers in- 

 stead. I was so disgusted with them I 

 never put them on the hives again. I 

 then sent to some place for a T-super 

 put up, which had the same difficulty 

 you speak of, and was driven about % 

 inch from the bottom of the inside of 

 the super. It came out ' /2 inch, then 

 bent down to the bottom. Then, when 

 coming to put in the sections, they 

 would not come to the bottom by % 

 inch on account of the staples. That 

 was my great objection to it. Then I 

 saw that the staples would have to be 

 driven in before the sections were put 

 in, and saw the difficulty of getting 

 them at the right place. 



If I understand it, you turn the super 

 upside down on the table and drive the 

 staple in the upper edge of it; then 

 bend it over and pound it down, and 

 this brings it even with the bottom 

 when turned over. That will do, and I 

 thank you for the information. I can 

 understand that. I would be willing 

 to use such supers, but if I were to or- 

 der a lot of T-supers and got the kind I 

 did, I should be badly chagrined, and 



would feel like making a bonfire of 

 them. 



You say you can almost throw the 

 sections into yours. I think I see you 

 fill crosswise. If you throw in a whole 

 super full, I don't see how you would 

 get the separators in, if you use them, 

 without taking about as much time as 

 to handle each section separately. I 

 fill the other way, and when I get 1 

 row in I put in a separator; then 

 another. I have learned something 

 by this correspondence. 



Marshalltown, Iowa. 



I must confess that I, too, have 

 learned something through this cor- 

 respondence. I have learned that not 

 only may there be objections to the T- 

 super from using it in a wrong man- 

 ner, but also that it may be objection- 

 able because wrongly made ; and per- 

 haps the wrong using may generally 

 come from wrong making. It seems 

 that it is sometimes made with the bee- 

 space at the bottom of the super, and 

 some have also fastened the T-tins to 

 the super. Either of these things 

 would destroy its advantages, and pos- 

 sibly some one has had ingenuity 

 enough to devise other wrong ways of 

 making. 



You are right in the idea you have 

 as to the way the supports are to be. 

 You are wrong as to the difficulty of 

 putting in separators. As you have 

 supposed, a row is first put in cross- 

 wise, a T-tin shoved under, then 

 another T-tin, and so on. If you put 

 in a row lengthwise, then a separator, 

 then alternately a row and a separator, 

 it would take probably 3 times as long 

 to fill the super. The T-tins would 

 have to be nicely laid, and it would 

 take time carefully to put each section 

 in the rather close space between 2 T- 

 tins. When put in the right way there 

 is no such careful placing needed. The 

 section is simply set against the T-tin 

 at one side, and when the row is com- 

 pleted the T-tin is very quickly shoved 

 under — it can't go wrong, as it can if 

 the T-tins are first placed. Putting in 

 the separators after the sections are in 

 takes a little longer than putting them 

 in alternately with the sections, but 

 only a little longer. When the sec- 

 tions are put in the super, the super is 

 not full ; a space is left at one side for 

 follower and wedge, or spring (a spring 

 is better than a wedge). With a sep- 

 arator in the right hand, put the fin- 

 gers of the left hand on top of 2 sec- 

 tions at the side of the super where the 

 open space is left, and draw them to 

 one side enough to let the separator 

 down at that end of the super, then 

 with the left hand move the other two 

 sections and shove down the separator. 

 Proceed with each separator the same 

 way, and you will find it can be very 

 rapidly done. Next the little '+ x3/32 

 sticks are crowded in at the top. Then 

 with a screw-driver or other tool the 

 sections are crowded together enough 

 to admit the follower, a spring is 

 pushed in at the middle, and the work 

 is done. 



I earnestly hope you will stick to it 

 till you have T-supers correctly made 

 (any one who sends them to you 

 wrongly made should have them re- 

 turned), and when you get the right 

 hang of using them I feel very sure 

 you'll find they're the best ever. Often 



