246 



GLEANINGS IN BEE .CULTURE. 



Apr. 



T. P. ANDREMTS' SECTION-CASE. 



A SUGGESTION IN REGARD TO MAKING IT. 



fOK the past year or two I have thought that I 

 was about done raising comb honey; but hu- 

 man plans, especially bee-keepers', are mu- 

 table, and I find myself, at this date, decided 

 to run the greater part of my 250 colonies to 

 comb honey the coming season. As I had discard- 

 ed my former method of handling sections as not 

 being up in line with the modern improvements, I 

 have been looking around the past winter in search 

 of the best surplus arrangement for comb honey. 

 1 had decided that my section-case must hold sec- 

 tions 414 X 414, 7 to the foot; that the sections must 

 have open sides; that it must admit of the use of 

 separators; that it must have no unnecessary bee- 

 spaces between it and the brood-frames; that it 

 must be so arranged that the sections and separa- 

 tors can be easily put in and removed; that it must 

 protect the outside of sections from propolis; and, 

 lastly, it must not be expensive. 



By the accompanying sketch and description you 

 will see where I stand at present in the matter of 

 a section-case. 



T. p. ANDREWS' PROPOSED SECTION-CASE. 



The case is about 17 x 13 x 4% inches, inside meas- 

 ure. ] make it of 'a lumber. The ends are nailed 

 on to the back'side of the case. The front, or mova- 

 ble side, is as long as the outside length of the case, 

 and is held in place and drawn up tight against the 

 sections by a pair of Vandeusen's hive-clamps, as 

 shown in cut. This arrangement holds the sections 

 tlrmly in place without T tins or other device. 



The separators are kept up in place by two nar- 

 row strips of tin. If used without a bee-space be- 

 tween it and the slatted honey-board, the openings 

 between slats must be made to correspond in size 

 and shape with those between the sections. If it is 

 decided that a bee-space is desirable, the case can 

 be made deeper, leaving the bee-space above the 

 sections, and fix the honey-board with a bee-space 

 on the upper side also. 



To fill this case with secticms and separators easi- 

 ly, set it on a flat smooth board, with the open side 

 toward you. Raise the front of the board on which 

 the case sits, an inch or more, so the separators will 

 not fall over when placed against a row of sections; 

 spread the loose ends of the end boards a little 

 further apart, and you are ready to put in your 

 first row of sections. Then put in the two narrow 

 tin strips, and afterward the first separator. 

 Rows of sections and separators are then put in till 

 the case is filled. The movable side is then put in 

 place, the clasps are pressed down over the screws 

 that project from the center of each end of the 

 movable side, and the case is ready for the hive. 



Now, if any one who reads this has any sugges- 

 tions or criticisms to offer, with a view to improv- 



ing this case or of giving us a better one, let him or 

 her speak quick, for I want to adopt the best ar- 

 rangement attainable at our present state of ad- 

 vancement, and I want to decide soon. 

 Farina, 111., Mar. 6, 1888. T. P. Andrews. 



Very good, friend A. As we have not, 

 of course, had a chance to try your case, we 

 can speak only from what experience we 

 liave had with other section-cases similarly 

 constructed. In the first place, it seems to 

 us that it was hardly wise to dispense with 

 all the usual supports for holding the cen- 

 tral rows of sections. No doubt the Van- 

 deusen clamps will, by compression, hold 

 the sections when they are first put into the 

 case. But then there would be danger, from 

 the shrinkage of the lumber in the sections, 

 of their dropping down so as to close the 

 l)ee-space entirely between the sections and 

 the honey-board. We have found by long ex- 

 perience, that sections will shrink in width 

 more or less. The lumber may be ever so 

 thoroughly kiln-dried ; but when cut up in- 

 to narrowstrips we find that it will shrink a 

 little more. Now, while you can cut sec- 

 tions just of a required width, yet in a few 

 months' time you will find them a little 

 smaller and a little narrower, although but 

 a very small trifle. 



I presume you know, also, that your ar- 

 rangement comes pretty close to Oliver 

 Foster's ; that is, if you use it with a honey- 

 board having spaces to correspond with the 

 spaces in the sections— the honey-board, of 

 course, coming in contact with the sections. 

 Friend Foster, however, wedges the sections 

 endwise as well as sidewise. You speak of 

 using the crate w'ith separators or without 

 separators. I suppose you have taken into 

 account the thickness of the tin. Perhaps 

 the Vandeusen clasp, however, has draw 

 enougli to take this up. But there is anoth- 

 er trouble that you and others seem to over- 

 look, with such arrangements. Basswood 

 sections season unequally ; and your mova- 

 ble side will generally strike two rows of 

 sections, leaving the other two more or less 

 loose. Sections can not be made so that a 

 row of seven will measure exactly alike. 



THE TAILOR BEE. 



HOW TO recognize HIM. 



fHE cells sent by Fred A. Hunett, Casco, Mich., 

 are, as he supposes, the larviP of the tailor 

 bee. He is also right in supposing the ma- 

 ture bee will come forth next spring. The 

 tailor bee is about as large as our common 

 honoy-bee, but can be told by the heavy brush of 

 yellow hairs on the under side of the abdomen. 

 These are their pollen-gathering hairs which they 

 use to collect the pollen. All bees collect pollen for 

 food. Some feed this directly to their young, or, 

 rather, place it where the young can feed on it. 

 Others, like our hive-bees, bumble-bees, etc., digest 

 it and secrete food for their young. The nests of 

 the tailor bee, made as 1 hey are of regular oval or 

 circular pieces of leaves which the bees cut with 

 their scissor-like jaws, are curious and interesting. 



A. J. COOK. 

 Agricultural College, Mich., March 21, 1888. 



