1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



345 



gland II. Such a change could be due only to a 

 ferment, and could come only from the saliva. 



(I know that bees change cane sugar to reducible 

 sugar, both when fed cane syrup or nectar. I have 

 had analyses made in both cases. While not all 

 cane sugar would be reduced, most would be. That 

 the saliva from glands I. and II. does this there can 

 be no doubt. Honey is digested nectar, the digest- 

 ing ferment being this saliva. While the drones 

 and Queen are fed in part by the workers, yet they 

 take honey; and unless this is fully digested by the 

 workers, the drones and queen must finish the 

 work, and so must have glands I. and II.) 



The most important purpose of glands IT. or their 

 secretion is for the test-organs which are in the 

 groove at the base of the ligula. 



(I do not understand this point.) 



Very likely the secretion from glands I. may be 

 used to wet and smooth the newly formed cells. 

 Thus these secretions are true saliva, and can not 

 be larval food. This is without doubt true. Yet 

 organized liquids do often have a double use. The 

 pancreatic juice in the higher animals digests starch, 

 fat, and may digest the albuminoids— will in an 

 alkaline liquid. 



Selma, Texas. L. Stachelhausen. 



(Concluded in next issue.) 



WIDE FRAMES VERSUS THE T SUPER. 



SOMETHING FOB THE BENEFIT OF THOSE WHO 

 ABE UNDECIDED WHICH TO USE. 



R. ROOT:— In Gleanings for 1887, p. 535, 

 you say: "One very great objection to 

 wide frames is the amount of labor entailed 

 in securing a crop of honey by their use." 

 " The chief difficulty seems to be in remov- 

 ing the sections, after they are filled, easily, quick- 

 ly, and without damage to the sections." But in 

 the ABC, 1884, page 116, you say: "When they are 

 withdrawn, you can pry over and lift out the frame 

 almost as easily as any brood-frame, and the opera- 

 tion of taking out the honey is very easy, and a 

 very simple one indeed." 



Now, the reason for calling your attention to this 

 is, that I intend to get some supers of you this 

 spring, if bees survive. I had made up my mind to get 

 wide frames, but these two remarks quoted above 

 make me doubtful. 1 haven't seen the T supers 

 nor the wide frames; but as far as I can look into 

 the matter, the wide frames must be preferable, 

 for the following reasons: 1. The wide frames 

 keep the sections more clean; the bees can't travel 

 on the outside of the sections; 2. With wide frames, 

 cross bees won't have so good a chance to pour out 

 en masse as with T supers; 3. They can be put on 

 one at a time; 4. No honey-board is needed; 5. The 

 wide frames can also be used in the lower story. 

 This is what I can imagine to be in fas^or of the 

 wide frames, but I have had no experience with 

 either. 



Now, if you please, a few questions: 1. Would 

 you positively advise a new bee-keeper to use T 

 supers? 3. Is it really so much work to take out 

 the sections of wide frames, especially with Dr. 

 Miller's device for the purpose, illustrated in 

 Gleanings some time ago? . 3. Can you give any 

 reason why as much honey can't be produced with 

 the separators as without? 4. How is it with wide 

 frames and T supers? can the bee-keeper see, when 



honey is capped over, without opening the super or 

 frames? 



Now, I may trouble you too much; but T should 

 like to have a little more light on the wide frames, 

 as to all the objections against them. Ai-e they now 

 made so they don't sag? G. A. Lundk. 



Frenchville, Wis., March 19, 1888. 



Your extract from the ABC book, friend 

 L., was written when I first worked out tlie 

 idea of the one-pound section, and putting 

 eiglit of them in a wide frame. The state- 

 ment is, however, not so very far out of the 

 way, as you will notice from the following 

 communication from Dr. Miller. As he has 

 had an extended experience in this matter 

 of both wide frames and T supers, we have 

 desired him to answer your questions at 

 once. You will notice that his son Charlie, 

 even now, can take sections from the wide 

 frames easier than from the T super. Below 

 is Dr. Miller's reply: 



DR. miller contrasts WIDE FRAMES AND T SU- 

 PERS. 



One way of answering briefly as to my opinion of 

 the relative merits of wide frames and T supers is 

 as follows: I had a full supply of wide frames, and, 

 after thoroughly trying them side by side with T 

 supers, I gradtially replaced them with T supers, 

 and do not use a wide frame now at all, although 

 more than 2600 of them are stacked up in my shop. 

 As I have no interest in either, only as they help 

 me to a good honey crop, this shows pretty clearly 

 my view, although it might not satisfy others. 



Noting, seriatiin, the points made by friend L., 

 and premising that, in theorizing, we often get the 

 seeming for the real, I reply: 



1. Theoretically the sections ought to be clean of 

 propolis in the wide frames, but in fact they are 

 not. True, the bees can not travel on the outside 

 of the sections, and that's just the trouble. If they 

 could, the sections would be cleaner. I have had 

 frames in which the sections fit so tightly that it 

 was difficult to get them out; but, no matter how 

 tightly they fit, there was always room for the bees 

 to crowd propolis between the top of the section 

 and the top-bar of the wide frame. If I am rightly 

 informed, Oatman has wide frames large enough so 

 that there is I4 inch space between the top-bar and 

 the sections; and if I were to use wide frames 

 anew, I certainly would try them made in this man- 

 ner, so that the bees could readily pass between. 

 Please remember that bees are not so much inclin- 

 ed to put propolis where they can go as where they 

 can't. In the T supers the tops of the sections are 

 entirely free for the bees to travel over the outside, 

 and they are left quite free from propolis. 



2. There may be something in this objection, al-- 

 though I never thought of it; but if wide frames 

 are made with open tops, as they should be to tier 

 up, then there is no difference. As I have never 

 experienced any more trouble with the T supers 

 than with wide frames in this respect, I do not 

 count much on it. Come to think more about it, I 

 believe the T super has the advantage; for a whiff 

 of smoke can at once command the whole surface; 

 whereas if wide frames with closed tops are used, 

 as each frame is taken out a fresh relay of cross 

 bees is ready for an attack. 



3. Generally it is an advantage to put on 34 sec- 

 tions at a time, instead of 4 or 8; but there maybe 

 occasions where the latter is desirable. 



