GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



hives, especially in localities where there is a 

 fall flow of honey that will answer for winter 

 stores, can be very profitably used under the 

 right naanagement. I do not believe tall sec- 

 tions have much to do toward their success. 

 If grocers want sections of lighter weight than 

 IX wide gives, narrower ones can be used. 

 Supers will not then have to be changed, and we 

 shall preserve the standard square; but I be- 

 lieve it would be folly for us to try to suit 

 grocers and dealers in all respects, for some of 

 them would always want some changes made, 

 which might be a large expense to the produc- 

 ers; and at the present prices of our product 

 we (or at least many of us) are not able to 

 stand any unnecessary expense. 

 Southern Minn., Jan. 3. 



[If the wide separators run clear down be- 

 tween the pat n-slats, then the objection that 

 I urged would not hold. Such an arrangement 

 wou d be perfectly practicable. Thumb-screws 

 may be a little better for producing compres- 

 sion. The advant ep of the wedge is that it is 

 inside of the hive, and out of the way, while 

 the thumb-screws stick out beyond the sides of 

 the super.— Ed. 



SftTJAKE VERSUS OBLONG SECTIONS. 



COMBS NOT ATTACHED TO THE SEPARATOES. 



By O. C. Oreiner. 



r Ever since the one-piece sections have come 

 into general use I have had an opportunity to 

 make observations in regard to their practica- 

 bility. The usual 4J|'x4>^-inch section did not 

 fit the hive I used, c To accommodate my sur- 

 plus-appliances, a section 4>^x5xl3j; inches was 

 necessary and desirable. First, it held as near- 

 ly a pound as sections can average; and, sec- 

 ond, I greatly preferred the oblong shape. Af- 

 ter these many years of practical experience 

 the result is so different from Mr. Salisbury's 

 experience, as set forth on page 17, that I am of 

 the opinion the objections raised by that gen- 

 tleman are in a great measure imaginary — not 

 that I have the least doubt as to the correctness 

 of his statement in regard to combs being fas- 

 tened to the separators, but that there is anoth- 

 er factor at the bottom of his trouble besides the 

 oblong shape of his sections. 



The difference between the width and height 

 of the 4K-in. square and his nearly 4x5 in. sec- 

 tions is so trivial that it seems almost impossi- 

 ble that bees would attach the one and not the 

 other. Nature directs bees to build their combs 

 plumb; and, guided by this impulse, they do 

 their work in a way that will accomplish this 

 object. In examining sections in their various 

 stages of progress we invariably find them on 

 both sides alike, drawn out and filled, or so 

 nearly alike that a swinging one way or the 

 other, by greater weight on one side, could not 

 be caused. The only difference we always no- 

 tice is in capping. The outside combs are on 



the outside, more or less behind the inside; but 

 the weight of the cappings is of solittle amount 

 that, by this slight variation of weight, a comb 

 would not be forced out of its perpendicular suf- 

 ficiently to strike the separator and be attached. 

 As I have never used the 4Kx4)^-in. section I 

 can not say how much better my bees would 

 have done along this line of not attaching to 

 the separators; but I can say that, in all of my 

 experience in producing honey In oblong shape, 

 I have not had enough sections made unmer- 

 chantable, by being attached, to fill a 24-lb. 

 shipping- crate. 



BUCKWHEAT SEASON. 



The past summer can be recorded as one of 

 the occasional exceptions — a season without 

 buckwheat honey. When the buckwheat had 

 reached its honey-producing stage, bees started 

 in in good earnest, and bid fair to gather an 

 abundant crop: but after a few days' work the 

 cold wave struck us and blasted our hopes. 

 Most of the time it was so cold that bees did 

 not leave their hives, even in the middle of the 

 day; and when warmer weather returned, buck- 

 wheat was so near its close that bees did not re- 

 sume work in sections; consequently many un- 

 finished sections were left on the hives. I have 

 about 1000 drawn-out sections, many of them 

 full-sized, perfect combs, all cleaned out by the 

 bees, and stored away for next season. What 

 seemed to be a loss last fall may prove a bless- 

 ing in disguise in the shape of an increased 

 honey crop next year. 



Naples, N. Y. 



TAI.L, SECTIONS PKEFEERED; NO TROUBLE WITH 

 COMB BUILT TO SEPARATORS. 



In Gleanings for Jan. 1, p. 17, Mr. F. A. Sal- 

 isbury seems to have trouble by getting comb 

 fastened to separators by the bees in drawing 

 out the foundation. I have been using both the 

 square and oblong section, and I find no more 

 tall sections fastened to separators than square 

 ones. I have used the Danzenbaker section, 

 3% x 5 X 1%, for two seasons, and I prefer them 

 for more reasons than one. First, there is a 

 better market for them, and that is one of the 

 best reasons, as I make it to sell; and, again, I 

 think the bees will enter a deep super sooner 

 than a shallow. I think if Mr. Salisbury will 

 use IJ^-inch starters in his sections, put them 

 in with a Daisy foundation fastener and set his 

 hives level, he will have no trouble with his tall 

 sections. S. D. Matthews. 



Hamilton, N. C, Jan. 13. 



tall SECTIONS BEST; NO TROUBLE FROM COMB 

 BEING BUILT TO SEPARATORS. 



In Gleanings for Jan. 1, Mr. F. A. Salisbury 

 raises an objection to tall sections because the 

 bees fasten the comb to the separators more 

 than they do in the '^K'^^K sections. C I have 

 been using a section 4x5 for a number of years, 

 alongside the 4K section, and I have not discov- 



