Dec. 6, 1906 



995 



American Ttee Journal 



if the Texas bee keepers expected to meet the 

 delegation from the North. We replied, 

 "Sure! They'll have a Mexican brass band 

 at the railroad station, and receive us all in 

 regular Fourth of July style." 



But when our car pulled into San Antonio 

 everything wa6 as quiet as a cemetery at mid- 

 night, and there wasn't a sign of a Southern 

 bee-keeper to be seen anywhere. We had 

 supposed that they knew a lot of U6 North- 

 erners were coming, but it looked as if they 

 " done forgot " all about it. We learned after- 

 ward, however, that they thought we were 

 coming in at another station than where we 

 arrived, and so they missed us. 



The Grand Central Hotel is only about two 

 blocks from the International it Great North- 

 ern station, so it was easily found. At first 

 the hotel accommodations and meals were 

 anything but satisfactory, but we learned 

 from the proprietress that she had just passed 

 through a deep affliction in the recent loss of 

 a son, who had been sick for 5 weeks. It was 

 a new hotel, and she had not been able to get 

 it properly furnished and in running order 

 before the bee-keepers 6wooped down on her. 

 When she saw her unpreparedness, a week or 

 60 before the convention date, she felt like 

 declining to try to entertain the bee-keepers ; 

 but, then, she thought, it would not be right 

 to break her agreement and leave the bee- 

 keepers adrift, so she did the best she could 

 with the unfavorable circumstances under 

 which she labored. However, in a day or two 

 after the bee-keepers arrived, things began to 

 improve around the hotel, so that it was a 

 pleasant place to 6top. 



Shortly after arriving at the hotel, at about 

 11 a.m. on Nov. 8, the Southern bee-keepers 

 began to appear and greet their Northern 

 visitors and others. There was the hustling 

 Toepperwein, who had made all the arrange- 

 ments for the convention; Louis H. Scholl 

 and wife, the former well known to our read- 

 ers; O. P. Hyde and charming daughter; J. 

 E. Chambers, who, with bis interesting help- 

 ers, were pictured in these columns lately ; 

 W. 0. Victor, President of the Texas Associa- 

 tion; C. C. Parsons and son. late of Alabama, 

 but now of Florida; W. H. Laws, the queen- 

 breeder, and little daughter; E. J. and Will 

 Atchley, the latter also accompanied by his 

 wife. And many others soon appeared to 

 meet and greet the rapidly arriving bee-keep- 

 ers, who began to hum around and "buzz 

 each other " somewhat in imitation of their 

 little friends at home— the bees. 



The afternoon of Nov. 8 was spent by many 

 of the visitors at the International Fair, then 

 being held in San Antonio. This is a great 

 event for that part of the country. And the 

 exhibits were really numberless and most ex- 

 cellent. Of course, what interested us most 

 was the large and very fine apiarian exhibit 

 made by Mr. Toepperwein and others. It 

 was really a magnificent display. We had 

 hoped to have some pictures of it, but so far 

 have failed to get them. 



At about 7 o'clock in the evening the bee- 

 keepers began to gather in the large Market 

 Hall for the first session of the convention, 

 the proceedings of which will soon be issued 

 in full in pamphlet form, and then afterward 

 we expect to publish them in the American 

 Bee Journal. 



We had hoped to tell this week of the 

 " warm " Mexican supper that was given the 

 bee-keepers, but have not room to do so. But 

 next week we will try to describe it, if possi- 

 ble, and if our pencil does not melt and paper 

 burn when attempting to write down the 

 " hot stuff " that went down over a hundred 

 throats that memorable evening. 



'Do It Now." 



Here's a motto for us all: 



" Do it now." 



Should the work be great or small, 

 " Do it now." 



Time is money you can't borrow, 



So to banish much of sorrow 



Don't put off until to morrow — 

 " Do it now." 



— Selected. 



T-Super the Great Comb- 

 Honey Super 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Some bee-keepers are quietly using 

 the T-super in preference to all others, 

 and because they say little or nothing 

 about it their number is probably a good 

 deal Larger than generally supposed. One 

 of them is Mr. Frank H. Drexel of 

 Colorado, who has sent me a letter of 

 such general interest that by his permis- 

 sion I herewith give it to the public : 



Letteb fkom Mr. Drexel. 



Dear Dr. Miller: — Somewhere back 

 in the go's I asked you some questions 

 about T-supers, and you remarked, after 

 bavins answered them, that you hoped 

 1 would tell about how I liked T-supers 

 and why I Used them in preference to 

 other kinds. 



Now, I fairly itched at times to 

 what 1 thought about the advantages 

 of T-supers, and to give vent to my in- 

 ion at tin: manner in which the 

 supply-manufacturers have been forcing 

 out of use such a good thing. Indeed, 

 only recently, when Mr. Greiner let 

 loose his batteries against the much- 

 abused T-super, I just felt as if I had a 

 call t" rush into piint. if I should be 

 given space, and defend the super of my 

 choice to thr lust of my ability. 



But whenever I thought the matter 

 over calmly. I always came to the con- 

 clusion that it wasn't worth while. I 

 would say to myself: "What's the use?" 

 \ik1 I -:i\ the same thing to you now. 



Yon have answered nearly all, if not 

 all, the objections that have been ad- 

 vanced against this particular form of 

 super. Vou have made it plain to those 

 who wish to see. that the super has mer- 

 its to stand on, and that it would lie in 

 use to a large extent today, if certain 

 interests had not decided against it. All 

 the various points you made, which 

 would hold equally good in case of other 

 fixtures as well, regarding the influence 

 of journals and of catalogs carefully 

 worded, on the minds of beginner-, are 

 simply too manifestly correct to be gain- 

 said. 



I haven't the desire to pester any one 

 with my ideas in connection with any 

 particular fixture or system, and I am 

 convinced that no one cares greatly 

 what 1 am using, or how I use it, un- 

 less it would mean dollars to them to 

 know. As I never considered the use 

 of T-supers worth many dollars per 

 year, as compared with the use of any 

 other good super to which one has be- 

 come accustomed, I have simply held 

 my peace. 



But to you I will say that I am get- 



ting rid of all my section-holder supers 

 as fast as I can, and 1 have only about 

 ioo left. 



Editors and business managers may 

 sing the praises of section-holders until 

 they grow weary of it — but it is all lost 

 on me. I have tried them on a more or 

 less extensive scale, and they are not 

 as good, to my way of thinking, as are 

 the T-supers. 



If section-holders did not shrink ; if 

 they did not warp; if the end-bars al- 

 ways remained rigid ; if they did not re- 

 quire cleaning; and if they were as eas- 

 ily filled in spring and emptied in the 

 fall as they are represented to be — then 

 I believe they would be nearly as good 

 as T-tins. 



You know, section-holders cost more 

 than T-tins, and they do not last as 

 Ions. They frequently fail to be accu- 

 rate the second year of their life. The 

 cleaning of a section-holder is a small 

 job. But the cleaning of O.ooo is a job 

 to be dreaded. 1 don't know how- much 

 longer it takes to clean d.ooo section- 

 holders than it takes to clean 3.000 

 T-tins. but 1 do know- that the pi 

 trying the experiment would never be 

 in doubt as to which he would prefer to 

 do in the future. 



()f course. I know- that some bee-men 

 do not take any stock in such argu- 

 ments, for they do not clean section- 

 holder-. They clean supers. All right! 

 1 have no quarrel with them. 'I he only 

 difference between that class and myself 

 is that they slap-bang! and I do not, 

 and do not want to. 



The diamond-shaped section usually 

 comes to me out of the section-holder 

 super. According to the picture of as 

 section-holder this should bi imp 

 ble. According to Editor Root, I have 

 things mixed concerning this. But I 

 guess that you know- that diamond- 

 shaped sections are not the fault of the 

 T-super — hut of poorly -made ones. 

 Whereas a section-holder maye be made 

 ever - good, in time and by careless 

 handling it can turn out sections so 

 beautifully diamond-shaped that they 

 will hardly stand heme squared, how- 

 ever warm and soft the} may be. This 

 happ ns very frequently through hurry. 

 The end-bars should stand perpendicu- 

 lar, and the bottom-bar should he spaced 

 equally distant from both sides of the 

 super. Some are made so that they 

 simply have to be that way, but they 

 do not remain so. 



Our T-tins on the other hand, do not 

 warp, nor shrink, nor twist. They may 

 be made to bend. Especially if one is 

 given to slap-bang work, but I have no 

 trouble of that kind. 



There is so little to get out of order 

 in a T-super that I admire your choice, 



