(Entered at the PostOfflce at Chicago as Second-Class Mall-Matter.) 

 Published Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn Street. 



GEOKGE VV. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 14, 1907 



Vol. XLVII— No. 7 



.XJ7:".'»-'-'-,-^>ii..' t- 



editorial Motes 

 and Comments 



,x' 



Cleaning Sections— Answering Ques- 

 tions 



We have received the following from a 

 California subscriber; 



Editor York :— Kindly read " Colorado's "' 

 question No. 2, on page 7S6 (1906), and you 

 will see that it says, verbatim: 



'* How many cases of 24 sections does your 

 best hand clean in a day? What should be 

 an average day's work for an average hand," 

 etc. 



Then read Dr. Miller's answer. Do you 

 discover either in the one or the other the 

 mention of T-supers? True it is we all, or 

 nearly all of us, who read bee-papers have 

 noticed that Dr. Miller is a great defender 

 and advocate of the Tsuper system, but the 

 misunderstanding of us here comes from the 

 simple fact that in this part of Southern Cali- 

 fornia we are working nut the T-super, but 

 the section-holder style. The Colorado in- 

 quirer did not speak of the style of supers, 

 and Dr. Miller (being a T-super man) did not 

 think that there are also other (unfortunate) 

 bee-keepers who work the section-holder style. 

 This, I think, you will admit to be clearly the 

 cause of the controversy. 



But, if Dr. Miller " as the great experienced 

 bee-authority" is addressed to give an an- 

 swer, it seems to me that he should have an- 

 swered it a trifle more to the point; that is, 

 he should have said, for instance: "The aver- 

 age work for an average hand with T-supers 

 is so much; and the same for section holder 

 supers— it is so much." That, at least as far 

 as I cin understand, would have been just as 

 easy for him as the answer given, and would 

 have been hitting the nail fully. It is true 

 that the Colorado questioner uses in his first 

 question the word "you," but in his second 

 question he does not do it. And, as said be- 

 fore, around here — and I think almost gen- 

 erally in our bee-region, where section honey 

 is produced — there are but few who work the 

 T-super. That, at least, has been my experi- 

 ence, and, to be frank, I very much regret it 

 now, that my first " bee-instructor " was not 

 in favor of the T-supers, and when I started 

 the present apiary here, I had to take a certain 

 amount of stock over in section-holder supers, 

 and you know two kinds don't work well in 

 an apiary. I gladly would now adopt the 



T-supers, even if the outlay for honey-boards 

 is rather an item when it goes beyond the 100 

 and last year's dreadful failure does not ease 

 matters for me. 



Now, will you please tell me what is con- 

 sidered an average day's work by an average 

 hand to clean sections from section-holder 

 supers; 



Ves, we have had, so far, IS'-j inches of 

 rain, more — far more — than does us any good ; 

 and having fallen so early in the season, we 

 have our doubts about a good honey-year, as 

 former experience has shown us that early 

 rains usually do not do any good if not fol- 

 lowed up by late rains, in April and May. 

 And though copious rains {'i^.i inches) fell 9 

 weeks ago, and ever since followed up by 

 alternating rains and cloudy or half-way 

 clear days, there is no growing of grasses, 

 shrubs, or the fields to amount to anything, 

 because it has been far too cold weather. 

 Manzanita is in glorious bloom, but hardly 

 any nectar formed. California. 



San Diego Co., Calif., Jan. 18. 



P. S. — The possibility — better say, fact — 

 that by the T-super system 24 sections can be 

 cleaned easier than one section by our section- 

 holder system, would be most assuredly an 

 inducement for nie to adopt the T-super. Un- 

 fortunately, I have over 250 supers on hand, 

 yet I would not mind the labor if an easy, 

 practical way to change them to the T style 

 could be pointed out to me. 



Of course. Dr. Miller would be Vie man who 

 could give me all needed information, only 

 the fact is present that he does not answer 

 letters by mail, and it takes so dreadfully 

 long a time to get his answer (and then only 

 in condensed form) in the American Bee 

 Journal. And time is short if a change is to 

 be made. You see that here I sit in a pre- 

 dicament hard to solve. Please, Mr. York, 

 kindly give your prompt attention to this 

 matter, and if there is a chance to come to 

 my assistance, theu do so. 



Jan. 21.— For :3 days we have had— to our 

 surprise — our genuine old California weather, 

 with the sun in a cloudless sky, and we appre- 

 ciate it, after the terrible siege. O. 



Undoubtedly it did not occur to Dr. Miller 

 that any misunderstanding would be in the 



case of his reply, page 78B, and you will see 

 that, as always, he tries to answer the par- 

 ticular case in hand. In fact, the trouble in 

 the present case is that he did that very thing. 

 The question as to " your best hand " was 

 asked and distinctly answered, and in the 

 nature of the case It could have reference 

 only to the T-super. Then the question as 10 

 "an average hand " as compared with " your 

 best hand" could only be answered by re- 

 ferring to the same kind of super. Moreover, 

 in Colorado many T-supers are in use, and it 

 is not impossible that "Colorado" was a T- 

 super man. With all this, it would have 

 made it clearer to some if it had been men- 

 tioned that he was speaking of T-supers, and 

 Dr. Miller will no doubt regret, when his at- 

 tention is called to it, that he had not so men- 

 tioned. 



But are you not a little in error when 

 you think that, in addition to answering the 

 question asked. Dr. Miller should have an- 

 swered some others that were not asked ? If 

 he had, as you suggest, answered with regard 

 to section-holder supers, then those who use 

 some other kind of supers would expect an- 

 swers, and his effort is to answer the ques- 

 tions asked, and not all the different ques- 

 tions that a number of others might ask but 

 have not asked. You are surely in error in 

 thinking that answering all these other ques- 

 tions he would have answered " more to the 

 point." He answered specifically, and directly 

 to the point, the question asked, and the way 

 is open for any one else with any different 

 questions to send them in without expecting 

 Dr. Miller to anticipate them. 



The delay in getting into print the reply to 

 your letter (which is learned from your letter 

 to Miss Wilson, which she has sent in with re- 

 ply to part of it) is greatly to be regretted. It 

 is an unusual, perhaps unparalleled case. Dr. 

 Miller is always as prompt as possible, and it 

 is a rare thing that he does not send answers 

 within a week after receiving the questions. 



Replying directly to your question, and 

 basing the answer somewhat on the aaswer 

 Miss Wilson has sent in, an average hand, 

 under average circnmstances, might be ex- 

 pected to clean something liKe 1000 sections a 

 day of sections from section-holders. 



It is to be regretted that you did not ex- 

 plain what you mean by the outlay for honey- 



