882 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



thing that tends toward more free commu- 

 nication makes the bees more wiUing to en- 

 ter, and, what is perhaps of as much conse- 

 quence, more wilHng to remain — a point you 

 do not mention. I suspect that, when a cold 

 night comes, the more free ihe communica- 

 tion throughout, the less likely the bees are 

 to desert the super. 



Your third point, upon which you are not 

 positive but hopeful, is that the fence will 

 largely do away with passage-holes in the 

 corners. I have just looked through the sec- 

 tions built in the Danzy super, every alternate 

 separator being a fence. In every case the 

 lower corners were unusually bad. The small- 

 est holes were a shade less than half an inch 

 long, but for every one as small as that there 

 were three that were more than an inch long. 

 Then I examined 12 sections filled between 

 common separators, these sections having been 

 thrown out of first class because not quite fin- 

 ished out, and I found 15 holes in the 48 cor- 

 ners, these holes being much smaller than the 

 others. But it will not do to base a general 

 principle upon so small premises ; and it is 

 only fair to add that the sections in the first 

 case had only small starters at the top while 

 the others were filled with foundation. Possi- 

 bly this last might fully account for the differ- 

 ence ; but it leaves the fact that, in some cases 

 at least, the alternate separator being a fence, 

 and only starters used, pop-holes in the cor- 

 ners will be bad. 



The fourth point, that the fence is stronger, 

 doesn't make any difference with me. I have 

 never had any trouble on that score. Very 

 likely it may be a fine thing for you who per- 

 sist in using something inferior to a T super. 

 It's a good thing to have the section-holder 

 improved in some way. 



Your fifth point is one that can not fail to 

 secure attention, that the new sections will de- 

 mand a better price. Whether that will hold 

 good in all cases is a matter to be determined. 

 You say the new sections look so much better. 

 I put a lot of Danzy sections in two rows, the 

 one showing the side next the fence, the others 

 showing the side next the common separator. 

 I was a little surprised to find less difference 

 than I expected; and upon asking others, who 

 knew nothing about what I was at, they didn't 

 seem to see any difference till I called their 

 attention to it. But isn't it possible that we 

 have become so used to the leanness of the or- 

 dinary section that we are no longer impressed 

 by it? I remember when I first used separa- 

 tors that I felt disappointed in the appearance 

 of the sections as compared with sections 

 without separators; and I distinctly remember, 

 in a convention, James Heddon arguing against 

 the use of separators, saying the sections had 

 a lean look ; and he threw a lot of meaning 

 into that word "lean," as he drew it out to 

 some length. 



But whatever else maj^ be said, if it remains 

 a fact that the sections in question sell more 

 readily or at a better price, then we can hard- 

 ly afford to do without them. For if there is 

 any advance in price at all, it is verj^ likely to 

 more than offset the small additional cost. 

 We have testimony from more than one source 



that such sections do sell better. Until there 

 is rebutting testimony, we must give this some 

 weight. 



I suppose I shall shock you by saying that 

 I don't see much weight in your sixth point. 

 It is true, as you say, that "it is not an easy 

 matter to clean out the insets of the ordinary 

 old-style sections." I don't want to clean them 

 out. They don't need it. " You know bet- 

 ter?" Hold on now, and don't ge excited. 

 I didn't say your sections don't need it, for 

 they do. But mine don't You see, in a T 

 super there is nothing touching the insets, so 

 noihing to invite bee-glue into cracks. For 

 you, no doubt, it will be an improvement of 

 some consequence. Any thing that helps to 

 obviate the defects of the seci ion-holder will 

 be a good thing for those who have nothing 

 better. 



Your seventh point holds good for those 

 who use section -holders. Anything to make 

 their burdens lighter should be welcomed. 



Point eight is worth figuring on — any thing 

 that saves money in direct outlay. And I con- 

 fess that, after a little figuring, it looks more 

 important to me than it did. Take the popu- 

 lar 12-lb three-row case at $7.00 per hundred. 

 One hundred cases will hold 1200 ordinary 

 sections, or 1500 of the new sections; 1200 of 

 the new sections will take 80 cases. There's 

 20 cases, or 81 .40, saved on every ] 200 sections, 

 or on every hundred cases one has to have in 

 the old way. Let's see what that will do to- 

 ward evening up on the separator business. 

 It takes 5 separators in a 24 section super. 

 That's 1000 separators for 4800 sections. As 

 we saved si. 40 on every 1200 sections, we'll 

 save 85.60 on 4800 sections — that is, the saving 

 on cases will give us 83.60 to apply on every 

 thousand separators. Say — why don't you 

 tell us something about what the fence will 

 cost ? If you can furnish it at an advance of 

 no more than |;5.60 per 1000 over the price of 

 the old separators, then we'll make money by 

 u.sing it, even if we can get no more in price 

 for our honey. For the 81.40 isn't all we save 

 on the 1200 sections. There's the making 

 of the cases, the extra time handling and 

 weighing, and that amounts to quite a little 

 when one is rushed to get the crop shipped. 



Probably you think I'm trying to find a good 

 deal of fault with your new arrangements. 

 Well, you see if some one didn't do something 

 of the kind you'd be so set up that no one 

 could live with you. But please don't resent 

 it to such a degree that you'll say you can't 

 furnish fencing that will fit T supers. For 

 fear you should, I'll just mention that, in 

 some cases, the saving of room will be quite 

 an item. I mean the room the honey will take 

 after it is in shipping-cases. And another 

 item is that sections with the inset are liable 

 to have the comb injured when standing in a 

 case or on a table, by means of the side of 

 another section being shoved against them. 

 With the new section this is entirely impossi- 

 ble so long as both sections sit flat on the bot- 

 tom. 



By way of a parting word, I may say that 

 the new sections will give s-ome occasion to 

 grocers' clerks to indulge in profanity. What 



