328 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



The T supers I have unanimously discarded. 

 They have one advantage; and that is, they 

 can be emptied rapidly, but not nearly so rap- 

 idly as can the Heddon super, if the time re- 

 quired to get the separators and the " little top 

 separators '• out of the honey, and then what a 

 multitude of the two kinds of separators there 

 are, either to clean and look after, or else to 

 renew ! Besides, I think it is fair to say that 

 at least twice as much time is required to get 

 the sections fixed in the T supers, particularly 

 if the sections, as most one-piece sections do, 

 begin to assume the diamond shape. 



But Dr. M. says, " The Heddon crate will not 

 allow the use of separators, and that is a neces- 

 sity when honey is to be packed for shipping." 

 That is news in Michigan. I have produced a 

 good many tons of honey in these cases, and 

 never had any trouble with the packing. A 

 half-dozen sections in a thousand would cover 

 on the average those that are rejected, scarcely 

 more than when separators are used, for occa- 

 sionally one will be fastened to a separator, 

 and so must be excluded. In a good season 

 there would be practically no difference; sub- 

 stantially all are readily packed. Of course, 

 full sheets of foundation are used. Then the 

 Heddon case has the added advantage that 

 sections filled in them contain considerably 

 more honey, so that less foundation, fewer sec- 

 tions, and fewer shipping-crates, are required. 

 For a good season I ask for nothing better, all 

 things considered; but in poor seasons it is 

 liable to the objection that the bees with their 

 spare time can propolize the top and bottom of 

 the sections with too much facility, and the T 

 super is equally liable to the same objection. 



Dr. M. says of the wide frames, that they are 

 so generally discarded it is hardly worth while 

 to discuss them. I do not know how generally 

 they are discarded; but the truer that is, the 

 greater the need of discussing them, for I con- 

 sider the single-tier wide-frame super without 

 an equal, taking one season with another. 

 Cleaner sections of honey, more completely 

 filled and capped, can be obtained in it than 

 in any other I have ever tried. This is the 

 fact: I shall not stop to inquire for the reason. 

 The first cost is but little if any more, and the 

 parts are all permanent and durable. It takes 

 less time to fill it with sections than it does the 

 T super, and scarcely more to empty it, and it 

 will be found to contain on the average a less 

 proportion of partly filled sections than other 

 supers. But, of course, it must be accurately 

 made. The top and bottom bars of the frames 

 should be cut a little bowing, and both nailed 

 to the end -pieces bowing in, and this bowing 

 tendency should be exaggerated by the method 

 of fastening on the tin separator. I feel sure 

 that, if comb-honey producers generally would 

 try wide frames thus made, and learn how to 

 use them, it would not be long true, if it is now, 

 that they are generally discarded. ■ 



There are some other statements of the doc 

 tor which should have examination, but this 

 must suffice for the present. 



Lapeer, Mich., Mar. 10. 



[Say, Doctor, it does us good to see Taylor get 

 after you so hard, apropos the T super. — Ed.] 



ARTIFICIAL COMB. 



WHAT THE GERMANS HAVE BEEN DOING. 



By Dr. C. C. Miller. 



Before me lie two samples of comb with which 

 the bees have had nothing to do except to se- 

 crete the wax from which they were made. 

 When I say comb I mean comb. I don't mean 

 foundation with unusually high side walls. I 

 mean comb. And as I look at it and admire it, 

 I can not help thinking that again the boasted 

 inventive genius of the Yankee is outdone by 

 what we are accustomed to think of as the 

 ])lodding German; for this is no triumph of 

 American genius, but was made in Germany by 

 Otto Schultz, the man who has done much tn 

 bring the manuufactureof foundation to a higli 

 state in Germany. The inventor, however, is 

 Pastor Warnstorf. The samples were sent to 

 me by the kindness of C. J. H. Gravenhorst, the 

 able editor of the Deutsche Illustrierte Bmicu- 

 zeltung. Each is about two inches square. 



While an experienced bee-keeper might easi- 

 ly distinguish between these samples and the 

 natural product of the bee, he must perforce 

 admire the beautiful finish of the product, ami 

 its perfection with regard to uniformity. The 

 one piece is worker, the other drone. The 

 worker comb is an inch in thickness, the cells 

 being of proper depth for worker brood. A 

 thick septum makes it necessarily thicker than 

 natural comb when it is new, but old worker 

 comb will be found an inch thick. It has the 

 appearance of worker comb after it has been 

 shaved by the uncapping-knife for extracting. 

 I count U cells to 2^2 inches. We generally 

 count worker comb 5 cells to the inch. That 

 would make 13V^ cells to 33<2 inches instead of 

 11, making it seem that the cells of the present 

 specimen are wider than the natural. I sup- 

 pose, however, that they are the same, for there 

 is more wax in the walls than in natural comb. 



The drone comb has 9 cells to 2{'f^ inches. 

 Natural comb would have 9^4 cells to the same 

 measurement. I suppose the thickness of the 

 cell-walls makes the difference. The cells are 

 about X of an inch deep, but they are on only 

 one side of the comb. There is no reason why 

 they can not be made two-sided as well as 

 the worker comb. But it is considered bet- 

 ter to have them one-sided, as they are not 

 desired for brood -rearing, but for honey only. 

 One can readily see the advantage for extract- 

 ing, to have combs that need no reversing. 

 They can be put into the extractor, turned 

 slowly at first, then the speed increased to its 



