

THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



been that they require more careful han- 

 dling than ordinary sections, or they will 

 be marred and set to leaking. The pro- 

 jecting sides of a section are a great pro- 

 tection to the comb, even though it be 

 but ]i of an inch. As most of the honey 

 in this State is sent to market in paper 

 cartons, if the paper box is made to fit 

 the well-filled new style of section it 

 will be much more likely to be injured 

 by handling, as most persons who take 

 up a box will do so with the thumb on 

 one side, and fingers on the other, and 

 thus press the comb and set it to leaking. 

 Where paper boxes are not used this last 

 objection will not hold. In shipping 

 these simple sections to market I have 

 found it a saving of \6^i per cent in 

 packing-cases — quite an item in their 

 favor. 



It has been a great query with me 

 whether the new style of separator, or 

 " fence, " was not of much more value 

 than the simple section. I have long 

 wished for a perforated separator that 

 was cheap and practical. The one I now 

 use is three and one-half inches wide, 

 giving the bees free communication with 

 the sections on each side, both at the top 

 and below, and seems to answer very 

 well, the bees entering promptly in spring 

 and storing as long as the harvest lasts. 



How much honey is lost by compelling 

 the bees to build their comb in small 

 compartments is one of the unsolved 

 problems. I have sometimes thought 

 perhaps one-tenth, or more; but as the 

 small packages sell for considerably more 

 than large ones, it has .seemed about an 

 even thing. If, now, instead of the sep- 

 arator we have an open fence between 

 sections, so open that the whole surplus 

 chamber shall seem to the bees to be as 

 one large receptacle, there is reason to 

 believe that the sections will be better 

 and more handsomely filled than with 

 present arrangements, and also more hon- 

 ey stored. And yet, as I frequently find 

 colonies at the close of the harvest that 

 have stored nearly or quite all of their 

 honey in the sections, leaving almost 



none in the brood-chamber, I have won- 

 dered if they would have done better or 

 stored more had I u.sed twent^'-pound 

 boxes instead of one-pound sections. 



Again, I have wondered if the very 

 favorable season has not had something 

 to do with the fine appearance of combs 

 where the open separator was used. 

 Combs are likely to look well where the 

 more common sections and separators are 

 used, in such seasons. But it can not be 

 denied that the simple section with the 

 same amount of hone}- in it looks better 

 than the section with its projecting sides. 

 And now let me tell the reader how the 

 ordinary section can be made into a sim- 

 ple section after it is filled with honey, 

 for there are many, like myself, who can 

 not readily make the change at once 

 from one kind to the other, even if it 

 proves to be all that is claimed for it. 

 For many j-ears I have taken a part of 

 my honey and put it in this shape for 

 market. I select the heaviest clamps and 

 put them on a Barnes saw, and slice off 

 the projecting edges, and then pack in 

 shipping-crates with one or both sides of 

 glass. 



Sawng the edges off brings the honej- 

 within about 1-16 of an inch of the glass, 

 and the appearance is better than in any 

 other way it can be packed. 



I have now arranged an arbor for a 

 Barnes saw-table so I can put on two 

 saws just one and nine-sixteenth, inches 

 apart. Now, it will be readily seen that 

 by having a gauge just right, I have only 

 to run the four sides of the section 

 through and all the edges are left 

 clean and white — in fact, much neater 

 than they could be made by hand scrap- 

 ing. By this process we not only get 

 rid of the side projection of the section 

 but clean it at the same time — clean it by 

 niachiner\-, if you please. The .saw or 

 saws should be set so as to come just ^^ 

 inch above the saw-table, or just through 

 the section, as, if it goes much higher, it 

 is liable to injure the comb. 



I do not know how many tons of hon- 

 ey I have put up in this way; but I do 



