THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



359 



dressed in its working clothes again. It 

 is beautiful in the eyes of every lover of 

 nature. Surely the example of the bee 

 is a worthy one for its keeper to follow 

 in the care of the apiary. But, dropping 

 all other arguments, it is well worth a 

 man's time to give his apiary this care 

 merely for the satisfaction he will derive 

 from it. It carries with it the spirit of 

 "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth 

 doing well." 



Bell Branch, Mich. Nov. i6, 1898. 



SECTIONS AND SECTION CLEANERS. 



Also a few Hints in Regard to the Construc- 

 tion of Shipping Cases. 



L. A. ASPINWALL. 



711 NOTHER sea- 

 -^^ son's experi- 

 ence with plain 

 sections fully sus- 

 tains their reputa- 

 tion. I find them 

 well filled to the 

 corners, notwith- 

 standing the slow 

 flow of honey. 

 Although an oc- 

 casional section 

 was found that bulged opposite the sep- 

 arator passage ways last season, not a sin- 

 gle occurrence of the kind has been no- 

 ticable this or other previous years. The 

 honey yiel-d of 1897 being exceptionally 

 gooti, necessitated a removal of all sec- 

 tions from the hives as soon as finished, 

 to prevent anv excess of filling. 



In all probability I shall make no effort 

 toward farther improvement in sections. 

 I may eventually adopt a tall section in 

 preference to the square; still, no argu- 

 ment or leason has thus far been present- 

 ed to influence me in that direction in the 

 slightest degree. I saw tall sections in 

 the Albany market upwards of twenty 

 years ago; and conclude that such were 



originally made to accommodate supers 

 and frames shorter than the standard 

 Langstroth. I think the Hetherington- 

 Quinby hive, as made by Hetherington 

 Bros., is somewhat shortened. If so, 

 these large producers would certainly pop- 

 ularize any shape they might adopt. 

 Furthermore, a change of shape or fash- 

 ion usually attracts attention, and is in 

 keeping with much, not only in the 

 fashionable, but in the business world. 

 However, the best is as good as any, and 

 men of good judgement usually adhere 

 to it. 



In the distant future a scarcity of bass- 

 wood or other suitable timber may neces- 

 sitate a new construction ornew material; 

 still, such a change is not an immediate 

 necessity. The construction of a strong 

 and cheap separator that will obviate the 

 necessity of a holder or frame, slats, su- 

 per, or anything cumbersome, is the only 

 thing needful in the line of appliances 

 for comb honey. A deep cover is prefer- 

 able to a super that cannot be taken apart 

 upon removing the sections; and stored 

 in a small space. Deep covers occupy no 

 valuable room when on the hives, and are 

 advantageous in protecting the supers 

 from the direct rays of the sun in ex- 

 tremely warm weather, which will often 

 cause the bees to suspend all work. 



Referring to section cleaners, and sec- 

 tion cleaning, the plain sections offer ob- 

 vious advantages in favor of their adop- 

 tion. However, the wonderful success of 

 my present machine is certainly greater 

 than I first anticipated, it being adapted 

 not only to plain, but to old style sections. 

 The speed attainable in cleaning plain 

 sections is far greater than I first supposed 

 could possibly be. The highest speed I 

 have thus far attained was at the rate of 

 192 sections per hour, being upwards of 

 2000 per day. The test of speed, however, 

 was upon a few; and possibly with a 

 larger number I would have failed to 

 maintain that record. Still, I am by no 

 means an expert as yet; but I believe that, 

 in the hands of such, 100 sections could be 

 cleaned per hour. 



