GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



I can do it on paper, and here he is — in half- 

 tone if not in flesh and blood. 



When and where Mr. Miles Morton was 

 born is not particularly important; but it is 

 pertinent to remark that l;e has been for years 

 using certain devices and practicing methods 

 that to me ap]:)ear to have been in advance of 

 the times. As his " bee fixin's " had r; al mer- 

 it other bee-keepers SLein- ih m wanted them 



MILES MORTON. 



also, and the result was he simply had to 

 make for them what they could not buy at 

 the regular factories. I have already said he 

 has a finely equipped little shop, and from 

 this he has turnetl out some nice fine work of 

 the Dr. Tinker order. He does not seem to 

 have gone into the manufacturing business so 

 much for the money as an accommodation to 

 his neighbors and friends. Well, this same 

 philanthropic spirit shows itself in his willing- 

 ness to show me his ideas, knowing that I 

 would give them away to the world. 



I have already referred to the salability of 

 his seciions; of the cleated separators that he 

 has been using for the last eight or nine years; 

 and I now show you a view of his comb-honey 

 super, a half-tone reproduction from a snap 

 shot that I took while in his apiary. 



^ 



MORTON'S COMB-HONEY SUPER. 



On top of the super is his section, the size 

 of which is just exactly '?,^4:-s.\^. The section 



is four-piece, having practically no bee-space 

 on either side, as I have already explained, 

 the bee-space itself being formed by the cleats 

 on the separators themselves. The size of 

 this section is regulated by the fact that his 

 regular L. hive is 18>< inches long inside; and 

 this length, divided by five, gives ?>%. The 

 super itself, being of the same length, is made 

 enough deeper to give a nice proportionate 

 height to the section; for the York Staters, 

 you know, have a strong inclination toward a 

 tall or deep section. 



As I have already said, the cross-cleats on 

 the separator are held on simply by ordinary 

 cabinet-makers' glue. In all the years that 

 Mr. Morton has been using this separator, not 

 once has one of these glued strips come off. 

 As you already know, this separator pleases 

 us so well that we have practically adopted it 

 for our 1898 separators, for plain \% sections 

 without bee-ways.* 



These sections in Morton's super are sup- 

 ported on slats, spaced and fixed at the proper 

 distance ; and the top edge of the sections 

 conies flush with the top edge of the super. 

 When there is only one super on the hive, en- 

 amel cloth is laid directly on top of the sec- 

 tions. If there is to be more than one, a sort 

 of honey-board having slats corresponding to 

 the top of the sections is laid on top, there be- 

 ing no bee-space between the sections and the 

 slats. On the top side of this honey-board 

 there is a bee-space that provides for the usual 

 space under the next super above. 



It will thus be seen that the top and bottom 

 of the sections are entirely covered, whether 

 the super is used singl}- or tiered up While 

 I can not bring nij-self to believe that thus 

 covering the tops of the sections is just exact- 

 ly the thing, I am not prepared to say that 

 Mr. Morton is all wrong; for on the principle 

 of "by their fruits ye shall know them," his 

 honey is in every respect first-class. 



Another unique feature of this super is a 

 tightening-side, two long screws being passed 

 freely through the center at each end of this 

 side into the center of the ends ; and these 

 screwheads stick out far enough to permit of 

 the use of an ingenious metal wedge. The 

 left end of the super shows the wedge with 

 its thin edge to the head of the screw, and in 

 this position permits of the widening of the 

 super by about ^ inch, for the easy insertion 

 and removal of the sections. After they are 

 all inserted, and the separators in their appro- 

 priate places, the wedge at the left side is 

 turned other end to and driven down, bringing 

 the thick end of the wedge against the screw- 

 head. As the head of the screw is fixed, the 

 wedge crowding against the head and against 

 the super side, it causes the sections to be 

 squeezed up compactly. 



The interior view of the house-apiary shows 

 just how these wedges are adjusted while the 

 bees are storing honey in the supers. This 

 method of tightening is quite ingenious, and I 

 do not know that I have seen another just like 

 it. 



• A full description of this is given 



another col- 



