912 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. L 



these in each eight-frame super, with 5 slotted sep- 

 arators, one between each two section-holders, and 

 slotted edg-e down, resting- at the ends upon the tin 

 strip, as sliown above. Then insert the follower, 

 thus: 



Tlien the wedge, or tightening-strip, thus: 



Place it between the follower and side of super 

 diagonally, so as to wedge the contents of super 

 tight, and prevent the bees from chinking in pro- 

 polis between the separator and edge of section. 



We have just made some twelve-frame Dove- 

 tailed hives for an order. Compared with the 

 eight-framers they are "whoppers." 



We are going to give the sealed cover another 

 trial this winter— on a smaller scale, however. 

 Our basswood apiary stands on a sort of hill, 

 exposed to the full sweep of the west wind. 

 Half the colonies are under thin boards sealed 

 down, and the other half under absorbing cush- 

 ions with the Hill device. 



We have recently increased our boiler capa- 

 city, for running our plant, to 180 horse-power, 

 and it seems now necessary to add to our en- 

 gine capacity to aid us in making the new sec- 

 tions. We have also put in a new and expen- 

 sive boiler-feeder. It feeds automatically three 

 boilers at a time, and at the same time removes 

 and prevents scale formation, or is supposed to 

 do so. We have also made some recent addi- 

 tions in the line of some fine and expensive 

 wood- working machinery. We believe now we 

 have the best and largest equipment for the 

 modern method of making sections in the 



world. We can turn them out easily at the- 

 rate of 75,000 a day, and, if necessary, increase 

 the output to over 10(),000, and all the sections 

 of the new and polished sort. I believe that we 

 have omitted to mention that, among our other 

 improvements, has been the addition of a STOO' 

 paper-folder for folding Gleanings, ABC 

 book, and our catalog. 



COFFEE A SUGAR SUPERIOR TO GRANULATED. 



We have been taught, for a number of years 

 back, and had come to accept it as a fact, that 

 granulated sugar was the purest and best of all 

 sugars for table use; that coffee A was good, 

 but not so pure as granulated. I was quite 

 astonished to read in the last Ladles'' Home 

 Journal, under the head of " Making Candy at 

 Home," by a writer who is evidently expert in 

 such matters, the following: "When making 

 any kind of candy it is best to use, when it can 

 be obtained, coffee A instead of granulated, as 

 it is nearly always purer. Select only sugar 

 that is dry, uniform in quality, with hard, 

 sparkling crystals." This last would seem to 

 apply especially to granulated, as coffee A is 

 liable to be moist at times. Who among our 

 readers can give us expert testimony on this 

 question? I presume there is no very great 

 difference between the two sugars; but if there 

 is a difference, let us take that which is best 

 when the price is practically the same. 



THE FOLLY OF LIFTING 20-LB. STONES; ENAMEL 

 CLOTH NOT NECESSARY; HIVE-COVERS, ETC. 



I ALWAYS have a feeling of pity for the man 

 who will use a 30-lb. stone on his hives, to hold 

 down a shade-board or cover. If you go into 

 his apiary and watch him work he will lift off 

 this big stone, and drop it on the ground with 

 a thud; off comes the shade-board, then the 

 cover, and finally the quilt or enamel cloth; 

 and this latter is where the whole trouble lies. 

 The use of thick-lop frames, M -inch bee-space, 

 and a cover that is flat, at least on the under 

 side, renders a quilt superfluous and an unne- 

 cessary expense. Without it the bees will fas- 

 ten the cover down so it will never blow off, 

 but not so tight but that it can be easily remov- 

 ed. But I suspect that many use cloths because 

 they will stick and hang to the thin and nar- 

 row top-bars with their attendant burr and 

 brace combs. If I had to use such old-fashioned 

 brood-frames, I think I too would use the 

 enamel cloth. But there is a far better and 

 simpler way. If it is unnecessary to use a 20- 

 Ib. stone to hold the cover down, how about 

 the shade-board, that bees can not fasten down 

 with propolis? In the first place, if I could not 

 have shade I would make the shade- board part 

 and parcel of the cover, leaving an air-space 

 between it and the cover proper. At the pres- 

 ent prices of honey, and its disposition to go 

 downward rather than upward, it does not 

 seem to me than any bee-keeper can afford to 



