Dec. 6, 1906 



997 



American Hee Journal 



done you good. Had I thought that 

 Mm would \vi>h to have it published, 

 I might have added a few more rea- 

 sons why 1 like the T-super. I know 

 that you did not need to be told the 

 good points, and no doubt you know- 

 more of them than I do. 



But it seems to me that if this matter 

 is again mentioned in the journals, and 

 any notice of it taken, it will be looked 

 upon as just another case of "old fogy" 

 siding in with another "old fogy." How- 

 ever, do as you think best. 



Now, to answer your question, I shall 

 take up a little more of your time than 

 is really necessary, but I want to tell 

 you a few things as I go along, which 

 will bring out a good point of the 

 l super. 



When I hist thought of taking up 

 apiculture, some 13 or 14 years ago, 

 1 read up on the subject a little before 

 buying any supplies, and it was then 

 that I decided to use the T-super. The 

 reason was this: Mr. Root said, in "A 

 B C of Bee-Culture," that Dr. Miller 

 was a good man to follow. So I fol- 

 lowed. Of course I made mental com- 

 parisons as to the virtues of the differ- 

 ent styles of supers, and I believe that 

 1 liked the T-super idea best ; but after 

 all, I feel quite sure that had I seen 

 the catalog only, and not the "A B C 

 of Bee-Culture," then I would have de- 

 villed upon the section-holder super. 



My first 200 supers were made at a 

 local mill, and were not very good in 

 point of accuracy, which, in a T-super, 

 ix quite important. So, later on, when 

 I bought some factory-made hives, I 

 wanted to buy along with them new 

 supers of the T variety. But not much ! 

 Section-holder supers were "regular" 

 then as now. and unless I wished to 

 order them direct from the factory as a 

 'special order," I would have to take 

 section-holder supers with my hives. 

 See the point? 



Xow the local freight from the East 

 to where I live is no small object, and 

 -. ■ 1 finally decided to take what I 

 could get from the agents here. And 

 to make the matter still worse for me, 

 the section-holders were of the new 

 kind — for I j-2-inch no-bee-way sec- 

 tions. Well, I had now 160 of these 

 new affairs, and, so far as the sections 

 were concerned, I liked them very well. 

 But I did not like the holders. So I 

 tried the 1 1-2-inch sections in my 

 T-supers, and they worked like a charm 

 with separators made to suit. So I de- 

 cided to yet a lot of separators for my 

 T-supers and plain sections. And right 

 here is what I wish to call your atten- 

 tion to. 



I In- T-super is the most flexible super 

 I know of. Any width section will 

 work in it and you need not have a 

 barnful of section-holders of different 

 widths on hand. When I say "a barn- 

 ful." I exaggerate, of course, but it em- 

 phasizes what 1 really mean. Just take 

 the section-holders out of 160 supers 

 (8-frame) and see what an awful pile 

 you've got. 



After some time I found it did not 

 paj me to continue using the plain -ce- 

 ll. 01-. and 1 had to get ml of those 

 section-holders as best I could, but my 

 old T-supers were just as good for one 

 kind as for another, and so I ordered 



several hundred more from the factory. 

 These were good, and I have ordered 

 tnori from time to time, until now I 

 havi 800 8 frame T-supers in use. 



Hut I also found myself adding sec- 

 tion holder supers to my stock. Not 

 because I wanted them, but because 

 they were "regular." Xew hives with 

 supers alwaj 5 meant the section-holder 

 kind. Also, by buying up bees, I be- 

 came the owner of still more of these 

 supers, until 1 had 500 of them on 

 hand. So, although I certainly cannot 

 lav claim to being an extensive bee- 

 keeper, as we understand it out here, 

 still 1 think I am entitled to pass upon 

 the merits of the two kinds of supers 

 from actual experience. 



This year I have had in use 800 

 T-supers and 300 section-holder supers, 

 200 of the latter being the 10-frame 

 sire. Each spring I find it necessary 

 to go over these section-holders and 

 either strengthen them with an addi- 

 tional nail or so, or by simply driving 

 the old nails up. Mr. Gill says they are 

 too light, as made by the factories. 1 

 think so, too. 



But my T-tins need no fixing. All 

 I've got can be cleaned easily in a day, 

 and [Kicked away in a couple of small 

 boxes the size of 8-frame hives. 



I am working with the two kinds 

 of supers now, taking out the last of 

 the most be-propolized sections I have 

 ever seen, and, as for me, give me the 

 T-supers — all things considered — all the 

 time. 



And, then, too, if there is any virtue 

 in having sections come close down to 

 the brood-nest, the T-super puts them 

 there when others do not. The first 

 honey comes off as clean and white in 

 T-supers as in any other. Later on, 

 I believe the section-holder protects the 

 bottoms of sections more perfectly, but 

 not enough to make it an object. 



So there, then, I've answered your 

 questions in a roundabout away, and 

 hope you will pardon me for being long- 

 winded. 



As a "parting shot" at those who who 

 claim there is no demand for T-supers, 

 I will tell you that my friends around 

 here much prefer my style of super to 

 those they are obliged to take from the 

 store ; but hesitate to adopt them be- 

 cause of the expense in making the 

 change, and the difficulty in getting new 

 T-supers from time to time as they may 

 want them. Anything is better than a 

 mixture, and so they create no demand 

 for T-supers. Therefore, "No one 

 wants them but a few old fossils," say 

 tin- manufacturers. And if not old fos- 

 sils, then fossils anyway. 



Frank H. Drexel. 



P. S. — I have been operating about 

 600 colonies for 5 years, and ship honey 

 in large quantities, and mostly out of 

 j -supers. That should be a fair test 

 as to the kind of work they will do on 

 a large scale. Crawford, Cole. 



* inn -ikanisclie Bienenz iiclil , 



by Hans Buschbauer, is a bee-keeper's hand- 

 book of 13S pages, which is just what our 

 German friends will want. It is fully illus- 

 trated, aDd neatly bound in cloth. Price, 

 postpaid, $1.00; or with the American Bee 

 Journal one year— both for $1 75. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



Home Trade for Honey, Etc. 



BV (.KANT STANLEY. 



It will certainly pay well to put con- 

 siderable thought and effort 111 the mat- 

 ter of building up a strictly home trade 

 for our product. In fact, 1 am led to 

 believe it is one of the most important 

 questions with which the bee-keeper has 

 to deal— the disposing of his surplus 

 product at the highest price obtainable. 



The shipping of honey to commission 

 ior disposition is, in many cases, 

 far from satisfactory. Such honey re- 

 quires much better packing than when 

 consigned to the local markets; the 

 commission men must have their per- 

 centage for handling it; the freight on 

 the shipment must be paid; the risk 

 of breakage in transit and fluctuating 

 markets all come up for consideration, 

 and as can be expected all this extra 

 expense is wrung from the pockets of 

 the producer. 



It is all wrong for a producer of a 

 commodity to sell his product at a price 

 scarcely above the cost of producing. 

 If there is any one who should be well 

 remunerated for his efforts it is the 

 producer. The bee-keeper has invested 

 his money in bees, hives and bee-ap- 

 pliances, and his success as a bee-keeper, 

 and producer of a good, high-grade 

 article, is the result of years of ex- 

 perience and study, and he is entitled 

 to every dollar there is in it. 



We should remember that the matter 

 of quality is as important a feature 

 with our home trade as when shipped 

 to distant markets. If we are very 

 careful to cater to the wants of the 

 consumer, we will be able to dispose of 

 immense quantities of honey at home. 

 It is certainly a pleasant experience to 

 have people within a radius of twenty 

 or thirty miles call at your door and 

 purchase honey ; and if quality has been 

 given the consideration it warrants, the 

 sales will increase to such an extent 

 that the demand will soon be far great- 

 er than the supply. By all means look 

 into the matter of a strictly home trade. 



Let us remember that attractiveness 

 and neat appearance are placed in an 

 article for the sole purpose of solicit- 

 ing patronage, else why bother with it? 

 While quality is the all • essential the 

 consumer seeks in the purchase of an 

 article. Xow we readily see that the 

 producer places attractiveness in the 

 article to assist in the sale, and the 

 consumer, feeling assured the quality 

 corresponds with the appearance, makes 

 the purchase, as he has no use for at- 

 tractiveness; so if we fail to place 

 quality in the article we are guilty of 

 deception and fraud. To make quality 

 the first consideration in the produc- 

 tion of an article, and offer it for sale 

 111 the most attractive manner possible, 

 is the only way in which the highest 

 1 s can be reached. 



Preventing Foul Brood. 



So much is being said about curing 

 foul brood that it looks as if the matter 

 of prevention is not given a single 

 thought. Of course, when bees have 

 contracted the disease there is nothing 

 left to do but to apply a cure; but as 

 "an ounce of prevention is worth a 



