THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



abreviations, etc., were very welcome; 

 and then the tone in which these suggest- 

 tions were given, the evident fear that 

 possibly I might take offense, made the 

 letter very pleasant reading. I don't 

 snppose that this friend realized what he 

 was bringing down upon his head, as I 

 have been sending him some proofs since 

 then and asking him to correct them that 

 I might be broken of some of my bad 

 tricks. One of them came back pretty 

 " speckled " with corrections, and on the 

 back was written: " And I do not claim to 

 have got all of'em, as the woman said to 

 the boy when she put up the fine comb. ' ' 

 Then, a great many have written about 

 themselves, their families, their bees, etc., 

 and I have enjoyed these letters immense- 

 ly. I believe that a teacher, a preacher, 

 or an editor, can not do so nuich good if 

 he holds himself aloof from the members 

 of his fiock. He must get close to them, 

 and look at things from their standpoint. 

 I doubt if the readers of a bee journal 

 realize how much they can do towards 

 the improvement of said journal. If I 

 could get such a batch of letters each 

 month as I have received the past month, 

 I think I am safe in saying that the value 

 of the Review would be doubled. Write 

 to me often. Your letters will always be 

 welcome. 



THK PLAIN SECTION. 

 This issue of the Review comes very 

 near being an old-fashioned, special-topic 

 number on the subject of plain sections 

 and slat-separators. To begin with the 

 frontispiece, it is a fair representation of 

 the honey built in the two classes of sec- 

 tions, viz., the old-style and the plain. At 

 least, it is a fair representation of such 

 honey that / have seen produced in the 

 two classes of .sections. I am aware that 

 nmch more perfect combs have been pro- 

 duced in the old style of sections than 

 the ones I have shown in the engraving, 

 for I have produced them my.self. In 

 fact, I have produced just as perfect combs 

 in the old style of sections as it \s possible 

 to produce; that is, I have produced a^Jciv 



such sections, but in the honey produced 

 by Mr. Aspinwall and by IVIr. Danzenba- 

 ker and by Barnet Taylor, the majority of 

 the sections were filled out plump and 

 full in the corners and next the wood, 

 just as shown in the illustration. By tak- 

 ing pains in selecting I could have secur- 

 ed some better sections of comb that were 

 built in the old style of sections, and, in 

 the same wa3^ I could have found 

 more perfect faces of comb in the plain 

 sections, or I could have found less per- 

 fect ones. What I have aimed to do is to 

 show a fair representation of both classes. 



Just why the bees should build more 

 perfect combs in the plain sections, I am 

 unable to understand. Mr. Crane sug- 

 gests that it may not be the result of the 

 sections themselves, but of the use of slat 

 or slotted separators, and I think that 

 this point is worth considering. For the 

 life of me, I can not see why there need 

 be any difference whether the upright 

 edges of the sections project far enough 

 to reach the separator, or if the edges are 

 met half way by projections fastened to 

 the side of the separator; but it is very 

 evident that there is something, either in 

 this style of section or in the slat-separa- 

 tor, that produces a more perfect filling of 

 the section. 



The danger that combs in this style of 

 section will have to brave, are, I think, 

 overdrawn. They do not quite reach the 

 edge of the section. They lack a little, 

 perhaps one-twelfth of an inch, and in 

 this case, as many others, "a miss is as 

 good as a mile. ' " I had three cases of such 

 sections, filled with honey, with me at the 

 fairs last fall, and they were opened and 

 the sections taken out and pulled about and 

 handled and exhibited and then put back 

 — this at five fains — and not a .scratch was 

 there made on the combs. If the combs 

 do not touch one another in the case, 

 what more is needed ? Mr. T. F. Bing- 

 ham, at the late Michigan [convention, 

 said that it might be all right in ordinary 

 seasons and with ordinary management, 

 but if the bees are crowded in a full flow 

 they will lengthen out the cells, getting 



