1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



563 



FOUR-PIECE SECTIONS VS. ONE- 

 PIECE. 



FRIEND J. A. OREEN GIVES US SOME EXCELLENT 

 RKASONS, PRO AND CON. 



fROM the fact that there is such a dlverBitj* of 

 opinion in regrard to these two styles of sec- 

 tions, it is evident that both kinds have their 

 merits. In this article I will try to compare 

 these fairly. 

 One great advantage that the four-piece has over 

 the other, is, that it may be made of much nicer, 

 whiter wood. This is certainly something to be con- 

 sidered. We want our honey to look as nice as pos- 

 sible. Whether or not there will be sufficient in- 

 crease In attractiveness to pay for the extra cost 

 and trouble, each must decide for himself— with 

 the help of the one to whom he sells. If I thought 

 that a crate of nice honey would bring a cent a 

 pound more in poplar sections than in those made 

 of white basswood, 1 should probably want poplar 

 sections; but I very much doubt that any one 

 would give me the e.\tra cent. 



Another advantage is, that this hard wood does 

 not absorb honey that gets daubed on the outside 

 of the sections, and it may be washed off without 

 injuring their appearance as much as is the case 

 with basswood. However, you have no business to 

 get honey on the outside of sections, so this does 

 not amount to much. 



It is claimed for the four-piece, that, because the 

 entrance extends clear across the section, and is usu- 

 ally made wider than is common with the one-piece, 

 it is easier to see the combs and thus judge of their 

 condition without removing them, also allowing 

 bees to be shaken out more easily. The one-piece 

 is better made in this respect than it used to be, 

 and I see no reason why the entrance should not 

 be made full bee-space on each side; that is, so 

 that, when two sections are placed together, the 

 opening between shall be scant % of an inch. This 

 is when separators are to be used. Without sepa- 

 rators, y2 inch is sulhcient. The entrance, too, 

 should be made as long as possible. 



A serious objection to the one-piece section is, 

 that in all supers from which they are to be reniov- 

 ed by pushing or pounding on the bottom, they are 

 liable to be broken in the operation. When the 

 sections all come out in a body, though, as in the T 

 super, there is not so much danger of this. 



Another objection that is a serious one to those 

 who do not use separators is the projecting corner 

 on the bottom piece. In sliding sections past each 

 other, if one is built out a little beyond the sides, 

 the corner of the other will dig into the comb and 

 reduce the nice section of honey to a dauby mess. 

 Of course, bee-keepers will not do this often; but 

 commission men and the general customer do not 

 know any better. Then these same projecting cor- 

 ners are a hindrance in shaking bees out of supers. 

 The first and third of these objections are entirely, 

 and the second partially, obviated in the two-piece 

 section, which has one side as in the four-piece and 

 the remainder in one piece. This dovetailed side 

 shoulil be the bottom of the section and not the 

 top, as seems to be the idea of some manufacturers 

 who persist in sawing that obsolete groove along 

 the center. 



I like these two-piece sections. They are strong- 

 er against pressure on the bottom than the one- 

 piece, do not have the " naughty corner," except at 



the top; look better, bees shake out better, and you 

 can tell at a glance which is top and which is bot- 

 tom. Combining nearly all the advantages of the 

 four-piece they are not so expensive, and do not 

 take so much time to put together. 



The time required to put the four-piece together 

 is one of the greatest objections to their use. It 

 does not amount to much when one has only a few 

 to put up; but when it comes to thousands it be- 

 comes important. They are frailer than the one- 

 piece (except that they will stand direct pressure 

 better), especially when the section is not built full 

 of comb, and are somewhat more liable to be in- 

 jured in cleaning. Of course, they are strong 

 enough when glned; but while 1 have never glued 

 any sections, I should think it would be a dauby 

 and wearisome task. The V-groove section could 

 be glued if desired, making a stronger and neater 

 job than with the four-piece. 



The first cost of the four-piece poplar section is 

 considerably greater than that of the one-piece; 

 and by the time they are ready for market, the dif- 

 ference is increased. That extra cent a pound 

 might pay me for using, them, but I am sure I do 

 not want to use them unless 1 can get it. 



Dayton, 111., June 33, 1888. James A. Green. 



HONEY FROM HARD MAPLES. 



MRS. CHADDOCK SUGGESTS THAT IT IS POLLEN 

 INSTEAD OF HONEY THAT THE BEES GET. 



fOW much honey do bees get from the hard ma- 

 ple? We have them in our dooryard, and 

 they were in bloom two weeks, and the bees 

 fairly roared about them. I watched them 

 at work, and it seemed to me that they did 

 not stay long enough at one blossom to suck nectar 

 from it, but just rolled and tumbled the stamens 

 about as though they were hunting for something 

 that they never seemed to find; then on the wing a 

 moment, twisting the legs together in a most fran- 

 tic way, then to another fjluster, and the same hur- 

 rying-scurrying motions. They worked on the ma- 

 ples only when the days were warm. On coolish 

 days they flew away somewhere and came back — 

 some of them with a differently colored pollen on 

 their legs, most of them with nothing. They came 

 to the well for water, and it seemed to me that, if 

 pollen were all that they got from the maples, they 

 might as well be working away at them. 



I see, in examining the stamens of different flow- 

 ers, that there is a white sticky substance on most 

 of them, wound carelessly round the pollen grains, 

 something as an ear of corn might look after be- 

 ing thrust through a tbin spider's web. Now, is 

 this sticky substance propolis? and do the bees got 

 some of it out of flowers if they want it? and if this 

 sticky substance is propolis, it would be easy to see 

 why bees gather pollen better on warm days than 

 on coolish ones. This substance is very tenacious. 

 A thread of it will lift half the pollen on one sta- 

 men— a thread that is invisible to the naked eye. 

 I killed a few bees as they attempted to enter the 

 hives. Only one of them had honey in the honey- 

 sac, and I am inclined to think that it was old hon- 

 ey that the bee had carried from the hive. Hut 

 finding no honey in the bees would not prove that 

 the maple-blossoms contained no honey. They 

 might yield enough to make the pollen stick togeth- 

 er, and still the bee have none to carry home in he r 



