Jan. 3, 1907 



American Hee Journal 



colony. What we want to know about 

 these matters is the truth without favor 

 to any man's plan or hobby. Because 

 one man's way is good for him in his 

 own locality, it does not necessarily fol- 

 low that every bee-keeper in all our 

 broad land should be considered ig- 

 norant or stupid because he does not 

 have so good success with the plan in 

 question. 



I notice that Dr. Miller's bees were 

 cellared on Nov. 19; mine were put in 

 on the 20th. Last year we both put 

 them in the same day, that is, on Nov. 

 29. I am sorry he could not have had 

 so good a crop in proportion to his 

 large number of colonies as I did from my 

 small number. I always enjoy his writ- 

 ings in the American Bee Journal and 

 Gleanings, and hope they may be con- 

 tinued many years. I also have his 

 book. I hope we may all have a pros- 

 perous season next year. 



Detroit, Minn. 



Best Size of the Pound- 

 Section 



BY L. v. RICKETTS. 



Having read with great interest the 

 article by Mr. T. K. Massie, page 783 

 (1906), on the subject of "Best Size of 

 Honey-Section," I will again attempt to 

 write on the same subject. Mr. Massie 

 and I, as well as some others, have for 

 some time been advocating the use of a 

 section large enough so that when fairly 

 well filled with separatored honey will 

 weigh an average of 16 ounces. The 

 one now in most general use — the 

 454x4/4x1% bee-way section — weighs an 

 average of only 14 2-3 ounces when filled 

 as above stated. 



!Mr. Massie rather favors a plain sec- 

 tion, to be used with some form of sepa- 

 rator furnishing the bee-way. From 

 the experience that I have had with 

 both bee-way and plain sections, I prefer 

 the former. The fence-separator costs 

 more than the slotted wood, and as Mr. 

 Massie says, "Some of them are very 

 fiimsily made, and do not last long." 



However, it is results that we want, 

 and in this case a heavier section of 

 honey is the result that we are after, and 

 it matters but little whether we use a 

 bee-way or a plain section in obtaining 

 it. The size, weight, and thickness of 

 the comb in the sections are the main 

 things to be considered. 



After having very carefully consid- 

 ered the matter, I have concluded that 

 a comb l-j'^ to I'/i inches thick is the 

 best for section honey. With a bee-way 

 section l'^ inches thick, used with slot- 

 ted wood separators, we will get combs 

 of the above thickness. As stated by 

 me in previous articles, and as proven 

 by experiments made during the season 

 just past, I have come to the conclusion 

 that the 4^x45^x1^ bee-way section 

 (all things considered) is the best size 

 of honey-section, and will come as near 

 to giving us an average of 16 ounces of 

 separatored honey as we are likely to got 



When writing on this subject of the 

 weight of sections and selling honey by 

 the piece or pound, page 633 (1906) 

 among other things, Editor 'i'ork says, 



"Every little while, some one to whom 

 the question is new appears on the 

 scene with what he thinks is a satisfac- 

 tory solution of the troublesome prob- 

 lem, and says. The whole thing is easy; 

 just adopt that size of section which 

 shall weigh an exact pound, and then 

 it will make no difference whether the 

 section is sold by the piece or pound." 

 To this Mr. York says, "But when he 

 attempts to produce a ton of honey with 

 2000 sections, each weighing an exact 

 pound, he finds himself running against 

 a snag." Our goood Editor concludes 

 by saying that the present object was 

 only to show "that to find a section of 

 such size that it shall always weigh 

 an exact pound is one of the things that 

 may be dreamed of, but never attained 

 in actual practice." My only objection 

 to the above is that it appears to con- 

 vey the idea that those who are advo- 

 cating the use of a section larger than 

 the ones now in general use, are ex- 

 pecting to get a section in which the 

 bees will always store an exact pound 

 of honey. This, however, is not the 

 case. Here are the facts : 



The sections now in most general 

 use. when fairly well filled with sepa- 

 ratored honey — sections that would 

 grade No. i, as to filling — do not aver- 

 age more than 14 2-3 ounces. Now the 

 question is. Would it not be better for 

 both the producer and consumer, if bee- 

 keepers in general would adopt a sec- 

 tion which when filled as above would 

 average about 16 ounces each, or 2000 

 such sections to weigh a ton, or a very 

 few pounds more or less, instead of be- 

 ing 150 to 200 pounds short in weight, 

 as is the case with the sections now in 

 general use? There is no use to say 

 it can't be done, for it can. The ques- 

 tion is. Would it be best to make such 

 a change? If best, then what size of 

 section should we adopt? 



.After having very carefully consid- 

 ered the matter from many standpoints, 

 I have come to the conclusion that there 

 is no better size of section than the 

 454x4-5^x1% bee-way section; or for 

 those who prefer a plain section and 

 fence separator, the 4;4x45^xl54 plain 

 section will give the same results. Either 

 of the last-named sizes of sections 

 should give us a comb i->^ to ij^ inches 

 thick, w'hich, as before stated, is as near 

 the right thickness for section honey as 

 we could desire. 



Pullman, Wash. 



First Things for the Bee- 

 Keeping Novice 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



"I am a beginner in bee-keeping and 

 have been persuaded to take the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and in it I see that 

 you sometimes answer questions if they 

 are sent you. I wish you would tell us 

 through the Journal's. columns what you 

 consider the prime thing a novice or a 

 beginner in bee-keeping should know 

 first. What is the main thing in bee- 

 keeping necessary to know?" — Cor- 

 respondent. 



There are very many things in bee- 

 keeping which are considered of first 

 importance, and the novice should un- 



derstand all of these, if he or she would 

 be successful. 



Perhaps the first thing that should be 

 done by any beginner would be the read- 

 ing of some one of the many good books 

 on bee-keeping, such as "Langstroth on 

 the Honey - Bee," Root's "A B C of 

 Bee-Culture," Cook's " Bee - Keepers' 

 Guide," Quinby's "Practical Bee-Keep- 

 ing," etc. Having procured one of these 

 books, carefully read it two or three 

 titues till the whole is as familiar to you 

 as a nursery rhyme, from beginning to 

 end, when you are ready to subscribe 

 for, and read- intelligently, one or more 

 of the several good bee-papers published 

 in America. Now, don't think that this 

 is unnecessary to success, for it is neces- 

 sary that you have some knowledge of 

 the first principles of bee-keeping before 

 you start out with the bees, if you are 

 to take first rank as an apiarist. 



Having gotten so far, I will tell you 

 one of the many other things you will 

 need to know, for on this hangs very 

 much of that which will bring prosper- 

 ity. In nearly all localities where bees 

 can be kept there are certain plants and 

 trees which give a yield of surplus honey 

 at a certain time of year, while, aside 

 from this, there is little more honey ob- 

 tained by the bees than is needed to sup- 

 ply their daily wants. Some localities 

 give a surplus at three stated periods, 

 others at two, while the majority give 

 only one such yield. Hence it must be 

 apparent to even the novice, that if such 

 a yield (or yields) pass oy without 

 any surplus, none can be obtained dur- 

 ing the season. From this it will be 

 seen that, in order to be a successful 

 apiarist, a person must have a knowl- 

 edge of his locality, and also know how 

 to secure the laborers (bees) in the 

 right time, so they can be on hand when 

 the honey harvest is at its best. Failing 

 to do this, there is little or no profit 

 in apiculture, and my main reason for 

 writing on this subject is that those 

 who read may obtain the best results 

 from their bees. 



Practically, first, then, we must have 

 a thorough knowledge of the first prin- 

 ciples of bee-keeping; and, second, we 

 have the location. 



Here in Central New York our honey 

 crop comes mainly from basswood, 

 which blooms about July 3d to 12th, 

 and lasts from 10 days to 3 weeks, ac- 

 cording to the weather while it is in 

 bloom. In other localities in this State 

 white clover is the main crop, coming in 

 bloom June 15th to 20th; and again in 

 others, buckwheat, yielding nectar the 

 last of August, while a few apiarists are 

 blessed with a yield from all three. But 

 as a larger part of those living in the 

 Northern States have a yield of honey 

 from basswood, I will speak of that as 

 the harvest in illustrating what I wish 

 to do. Bear in mind, however, that it 

 devolves on the reader of this to ascer- 

 tain by careful investigation just when 

 and what is the source of nectar from 

 which his surplus honey comes, so as 

 to work accordingly. 



After having determined from what 

 and when we may expect our harvest 

 of honey, the next step is to secure the 

 bees in just the right time for that har- 

 vest. If you have a field of grain to 

 cut, you hire the laborers just when the 



