THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



345 



weight of the box press the glass tight 

 against the wood. The other side of the 

 section was now treated in the same way, 

 placing a drop of glue near each corner, 

 and laying on the glass. Two more short 

 sticks were placed on top of the section, 

 ready to receive the next section. So 

 they were piled up eight or ten high with 

 these sticks between, and left so till the 

 glue had hardened. As glass varies in 

 thickness sometimes, we found it neces- 

 sary to trim off any superfluous wood pro- 

 jecting over the glass with the knife. 

 The boxes were then ready to be given 

 the finish. Gum arabic being colorless, 

 we found this to be the best for sticking 

 the paper to the glass and wood. 



With a suitable pinking-iron we pre- 

 pared the necessary strips and cut them 

 the proper lengths to just go around the 

 boxes. We then bound the edges as 

 shown in the illustration, making a very 

 neat package. Of course, it was a great 

 deal of work to do all this with several 

 tons of honey each year, but we did much 

 of it evenings. Children and all helping, 

 we could turn out quite a lot in one night. 

 The crating had to be done by day-light 

 the next morning. One cannot well 

 grade by lamplight. 



The people hereabout must be different 

 from what they are with Bro. Aikin. for I 

 find but few who like their honey with- 

 out some wax. Indeed I do not know 

 one person who prefers extracted honey 

 to that in the comb. It is my opinion 

 that honey out of the comb soon loses 

 that fine aroma peculiar to it when in the 

 comb, or when first extracted; and after 

 it has granulated and is liquefied again, 

 all the fine qualities it had once are then 

 gone, even when the liquefying has been 

 done with the greatest of care. My faith- 

 ful better half, for instance, dishkes liq- 

 uefied honey, while she rather enjoys 

 the new article. Thus our experience is 

 contrary to Bro. Doolittle's, who recently 

 made the claim that extracted honey im- 

 proves by liquefying. 



My plain sections are not filled per- 

 ceptibly better than the others, but we 

 have had a very scant honey flow all 

 around, and of short duration at that. 

 The cappings of the sections used in con- 

 nection with the fence are perfectly level, 

 except in a few instances where a space 

 in the fence had by accident become 

 wider than the two-twelfths inch. Here 

 I can notice a slightly wavy appearance. 

 I am more favorably impressed with the 

 plain section than I am with the fence, 

 although the fence works all right. I in- 

 tend to use whole cleated separators by 

 the side of the fence, and in the same 



cases, too, in order to be better able to de- 

 termine more correctly how far the fence 

 may be relied upon as giving us better- 

 filled-out sections. I find there is not any 

 more danger of injuring the plain section 

 in handling than the scalloped. If there 

 is any difference it is in favor of the plain. 

 They have no projections to catch into 

 the next section. It may be necessary to 

 use followers with them in the shipping- 

 cases, for it is difficult to get the first sec- 

 tions out of a crate witliout this con- 

 venience. 



The editor of Gleanings "foot-notes" 

 as follows: — 



[We down here in Ohio do not know of 

 any method whereby worker comb can be 

 generally secured from a mere starter in 

 the section box. Over lialf of the combs 

 will be finished drone, and these will be 

 more "gobby" eating than comb honey 

 from full sheets of worker foundation. 

 Or, to put it another way, if we use only 

 starters we shall have more drone than 

 worker; and natural-built drone-comb is 

 less friable than worker comb from full 

 sheets of foundation. 



It is possible that honey, when extract- 

 ed, loses some of the delicate aroma that 

 it has while in the comb. Wax of itself 

 has a beautiful aroma, even when there 

 is no hone3Mn it. Over and over again, 

 persons when visiting our wax-room call 

 attention to the beautiful honey flavor 

 that they smell, notwithstanding there 

 may not be an ounce of honey in the 

 room. Now, then, if wax has a flavor or 

 aroma peculiarly its own, this, when add- 

 ed to honey, would give a combined 

 effect that is pleasanter to the eater than 

 the same honey free of wax. ] 



It is true that a comb but slightly at- 

 tached to the section can be cut out with 

 less trouble, and presents a neater ap- 

 pearance on the table, than one built sol- 

 idly to the wood; but such combs are al- 

 most certain to be broken loose in ship- 

 ment. This is undesirable. It causes brok- 

 en combs and leakage and trouble to the 

 retailer. Such honey is in an unsalable 

 condition; and, if sold, must go at a re- 

 duced price. As I have remarked before 

 in these colunnis, there are some fruits 

 and vegetables very desiiable for home 

 use that will not bear shipment. It is 

 the same with this class of honey. As 

 shippers of honey, our efforts should be 

 in the direction of securing combs that 



