IS.t? 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTITRE. 



r73 



new sop:\rator you wrote so iiuich about on 

 pajre 741. According to my i>res.-nt H<;ht I 

 think them a good thing, for I have tried 

 them this season. I got my idea from R. C. 

 .\ikin (in GI-K.A.NIXG.S for April 15, '1)7, page 

 •J7'> ). hut I rejected his idea of supporting .sec- 

 tions by little nails driven into the separators. 

 Instead I floored my .section-case with thin 

 strips, scored out on the edges, h)r ])ee-S]5aces. 

 The separators are 's in. thick, and the .strips 

 across the same are 's also, on each side. This 

 keeps the .sections just -^s in- apart. The bot- 

 tom and top of sections are 1 '4 in. wide; up- 

 rights of sections 1 !< in. wide, which gives a 

 bee-space of '4 inch between toji and bottom 

 of sections, and the honey in the section is 

 just 1 '4 in. thick, and e.xactly even with top 

 and 1)ottom pieces, and as straight and smooth 

 on its surface as ^ planed block of wood. 

 When crated, the combs are '4 in, apart, and 

 need no separators. I never had lioney in 

 nicer sh.ape than in those sections. The floor 

 in the case prevents the bees from coming in 

 contact with the sections, and I think that, in 

 another season, I shall cover the sections on 

 the top also with thin bottom floor strips. 



Instead of glue for fastening on strips I ns2 

 small clinch-nails — such as are used for mak- 

 ing peach-baskets — and with a suitable form 

 it can be done quite rapidly by any boy or 

 girl. Of course, it is some work to fix up sec- 

 tion-cases this way, V)ut not more than wide 

 frames, and it is no trouble at all to take the 

 sections from the cases. I have a way of my 

 own for pressing the sections together in the 

 cases, both endwise and sidewise. My section- 

 case is a plain box halved together at the cor- 

 ners, and nailed both wavs. 

 Allegan, Mich., Oct. 23. 



[I had forgotten the fact that so good an 

 authority as R. C. Aikin uses and recom- 

 mends cleated separators when I wrote the ar- 

 ticle in our previous issue, page 741. As time 

 goes on, I have no doubt we shall find that a 

 larger number of bee-keepers than we had an}- 

 idea of saw the advantage of cleated separat- 

 ors and made use of them. 



I notice that you emphasize the fact that 

 this style of separator gives you comb honey 

 " as straight and sm<wth on its surface as a 

 planed block of wood." Why. it s-ems to me 

 that any one who would think of using the 

 old style of separator in preference to the new 

 one would be .simply sliutting his eyes and 

 throwing away his dollars — none so blind as 

 they who will not .see. I do not think or 

 guess or theorize. The proof of the pudding 

 is in the eating. The honey that has been 

 produced by cleated separators speaks for it- 

 self. The sections are not only better filled 

 out, but plumper, and, as I stated in our last 

 issue, would grade at least one notch higher 

 in the open market. 



Well, it seems here is another man who also 

 caught on to the advantage of this style of 

 section, and we will let him speak for him- 

 self ; and in the mean time we should like to 

 hear from others who have been using the 

 same or a similar device. Let us hear all the 

 bad things about them as well as the good. 

 —Ed.] 



now .\M) WHY THE NO-BKK-SPACE SECTION 



()]• ii()m;n- brings a higher price. 



J/r. Root : — Referring to editorial column, 

 page 744, you speak of non-bee-space sections. 

 I want to say that I heartily agree with you in 

 all you say about the pleasing effect they pre- 

 sent when looking at the face of the section. 

 No one looks at section honey edgewise when 

 buying, unless to see whether it is cleaned of 

 propolis ; con.sequently the section that is fill- 

 ed out to the edge, and evenly capped, no out- 

 side cells uncapped, which is so common with 

 the bee-spaced section, is the kind of section 

 honey that will sell ninety-nine times out of a 

 hundred first — every time when sold by the 

 section, even if the bee-spaced section did 

 weigh a little heavier. 



During the honey-flow this season my cir- 

 cumstances were of such a nature that I could 

 not purchase such goods as were needed 

 ( caused by misfortunes in the past two years, 

 over which I had no control); consequently, 

 in order to procure the honey my bees would 

 gather I was forced to plan some arrangement 

 for surplus. After I had u.sed all sections un- 

 til others could be had, so I had a lot of brood- 

 frames in the flat, they were put together and 

 spaced with horizontal and perpen<licular thin 

 strips. Starters were put in and given to the 

 bees and were spaced to about l\ inch ; and, 

 oh my ! that was the loveliest sight of honey, 

 when taken off, I ever saw. I do not believe 

 there were a dozen uncapped cells in the en- 

 tire lot. Every section was built out as even 

 as a planed board ; in fact, it was a solid block 

 of honey. 



A few days after this honey was taken off, 

 a gentleman called for some honey ; and while 

 I was about to wrap up seven of my nicest 

 filled sections, the gentleman spied those large 

 frames, and was so fascinated by their appear- 

 ance he exclaimed, " Sa}-, Mr. G., is this 

 honey for sale ?" 

 "Yes, sir." 



" How much have you like this ? " pointing 

 to a frame hanging up in my honey-room, 

 ' ' and the price ? ' ' 



I said, "I think about 40 lbs., and 15 cts. 

 per pound." 



" Well, you needn't tie up those boxes. I'll 

 take the 40 lbs." 



Now, why did this gentleman buy that 

 honey in preference to a dollar's worth of as 

 nice bee-space-section honey as it's possible to 

 produce by any apiarist ? It w^as all white- 

 clover lioney. It was the pleasing appearance 

 it presented by being built out even with the 

 edge of the frame, and no uncapped cells, 

 which always make a section look as if it 

 contains more beeswax than honey. 



Here is another observation proof in my 

 method of manijmlating bees (swarms), cag- 

 ing the queen, placing her in super, ar.d hiv- 

 ing the swarm back, as stated in former arti- 

 cles. In preparing the cages I take a number 

 of the one piece sections, place them between 

 two boards, and place them in the bench-vise; 

 then with the plane I dress off the projecting 

 edges. They are then put together, then each 

 side is covered with wire cloth. Not having 



