GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



231 



By B. C. Aikin. 



SECTIONS; WEIGHT, SIZE, SHAPE, ETC. 



Oh! selfish man, unjust, untrup. 



With longing eye and grasping mind. 

 Endeavors, by some hook or cue, 



To beat his friend— yes, all mankind. 

 The largest eggs he'll keep at home: 



The smaller ones must sell, says he; 

 And nature's realm he'll ever roam. 



Excuse to find or conscience ease. 

 The sections thin, still thinner yet— 



Fifteen, fourteen, twelve will do. 

 Still a pound is what we get. 



With me 'tis so— no doubt with you. 

 O manhood I rise, be just, be true; 



Your weights full measure always give; 

 Reward in kind awaiteth you. 



If good or bad the life you live. 



This discussion about the weight of sections 

 is still agitating bee-keepers. It seems to me 

 strange that so many are led astray. What 

 does it all mean ? Friends, just open your eyes 

 and you will see that the gist of the whole mat- 

 ter is a question of honest or dishonest weights. 

 There is a disposition to get more than our 

 money's worth — an evil that permeates the 

 whole mass of our people. We can scarcely 

 find a paper that does not carry advertisements 

 of one kind or another offering free goods. Oh 

 the hundreds upon thousands of ways to make 

 us believe we are to get more than our money's 

 worth! 



I have observed for the past three or four 

 years the disposition to have sections of honey 

 light weight. I have no doubt that many- 

 yes, very many— of our apiarists have not seen 

 the spirit that underlies the whole matter. 

 Suppose two honfy-dealers do business on the 

 same street. A gets his honey from Dr. Miller 

 and such men, who would not produce any 

 thing but full-weight sections. He buys by 

 the case. If the sections are full weight he 

 gets 24 pounds, say for ■?3.40. He will retail 

 these sections at 15 cts. each, or two for a quar- 

 ter. Mr. B buys a lot of light-weight sections, 

 we will say at the same per case that A paid; 

 but while A got 24 pounds of honey at 10 cts. 

 per pound, B has paid just about ll;-.j cts. per 

 pound for 21 pounds, supposing the light 

 weights to run 14 ounces. So long as each 

 bought by the ca.se and sold by the piece, B, 

 having bought light weights, would make the 

 greater profitsi because he had less freirihts to 



pay; but B's customers got less for their money, 

 and his producers got more for their honey. 



Shrewd dealers (a vast amount of wickedness 

 is covered by that word shrewd) soon catch on 

 to these things, and the next step is to say to 

 the producer, "These cases are short weight; 

 we can not pay you by the case." I feel sure 

 that the greater part of the fraternity do not 

 really intend to do wrong; yet after all if we 

 watch ourselves we shall find we are willing to 

 take all we can get. 



Supposing, however, that we are honest, we 

 shall ask pay only for net weights. It is very 

 easy, then, when the dealer can get 24 sections 

 at light-weight prices, to retail at a profit by 

 the piece— yes, a big profit. We must not for- 

 get that the commercial world is not governed 

 by the golden rule in its business. I am very 

 sorry to say that even those who profess to be 

 governed by this rule, many of them, leave the 

 rule outside of their business transactions. 



I know that dealers have been advising light- 

 weight sections. It seems to me the reason is 

 to increase profits by buying by iveight and 

 selling by the piece— a. sort of deception. I am 

 afraid ive. too, have been hoping to get full- 

 weight prices for our light-weight goods. 



One thing that has led beekeepers, probably, 

 to produce light weights is the fact that our 

 sections have not been proportioned right. 

 The A}:iyi'^}i\2 will nold a pound when well 

 filled between separators. The 1% thick will 

 hold a pound when full separators are used if 

 plump, and attached at the bottoms. We find, 

 however, that better work — nicer and better 

 finished sections— can be had if a thinner sec- 

 tion be used. I have no doubt that many bee- 

 keepers have come to produce the light weights, 

 not with intent to defraud, but to get a more 

 fancy article. It is no easy matter to change 

 the height or width of a section, but it is easy 

 to use a thinner one. Whatever the causes 

 that have led up to the thin or light-weight 

 section, it is altogether wrong to sell 12 or 14 

 ounces of honey for a pound. The sections are 

 supposed to be a pound. We call them pound 

 sections in catalogs and everywhere. Custom- 

 ers will buy them for pounds. People get so 

 used to being cheated that they expect to be, 

 and many submit because they think they can 

 not help themselves. 



I have no argument to make against a thin- 

 ner section, for I believe that the two-inch sec- 

 tion is too thick to make a neat finish. 4Kx4J|' 

 x2 is too much of a chunk, and the more so in 

 appearance as commonly made with the gross 

 width of sides extending part way along the 

 top and bottom bars. A section whose sides 

 are one width, and top and bottom narrower 

 their extreme length, is nicer looking, and will 

 be better finished. This I observed years ago, 

 when I changed from nailed sections to the 

 one-piece. 



