12 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



square. It would give such a nice firm hold. 

 There are frames in use with long projections, 

 coming clear outside the hive; but believing 

 it better, all things considered, to have them 

 inside the hive, I must be satisfied to have 

 them left only V inch long. Then I find my- 

 self greatly annoyed with the ends of the pro- 

 jections being glued fast, and it's a choice be- 

 tween two evils, the sticking glue and a pro- 

 jection of only Yz inch. I decided that the 

 glue was the worse evil, and experience con- 

 firms that belief. I'd rather have the annoy- 

 ance of handling a short projection than to be 

 troubled with the everlasting slicking at the 

 end. 



After handling a good many such frames, 

 I didn't find the objection in practice that 

 I had theoretically anticipated. With a thick 

 top-bar you can get a very good hold without 

 an}' projection — no need to handle the end-bar 

 in any case. 



You object to having the projection whittled 

 dow^n narrower than the rest of the top-bar.' 

 So do I. I don't believe there's any need of 

 it. I suppose the projection was made '4 inch 

 narrower than the rest of the top-bar so as to 

 allow room for the fingers to take hold. In 

 actual practice I don't believe any thing of 

 the kind is needed. You don't take hold to 

 lift the frame till after you have slid it a little 

 distance from its neighbor, and then you've 

 plenty of room to take hold without any whit- 

 tling away. If I were you, I'd stipulate that 

 the top-bar should not be whittled narrower 

 at the ends. It must be easier to leave it full 

 width, and to ni}- notion it's better. Then it 

 would make it better to handle the top-bar if 

 it were thicker. It is made of % stuff, but 

 cut away at each side to ^. I like it better 

 without any cutting away, and a saw-kerf at 

 the center to take in the edge of the founda- 

 tion. 



That staple. You think it would be very 

 much in the way. That's theory. In prac- 

 tice I don't find any trouble with a nail-head, 

 and the staple is less in the way of the fingers. 



Somehow the fingers seem to accommodate 

 themselves or slip out of the way mechanical- 

 ly. You want the spacer on the end-bar. 

 Well, you can have it there, although I have 

 some doubt whether you'd like it better in 

 practice. But in that case there is more dif- 

 ficulty in having exact spacing of the top- 

 bars, and that's the part we want most exact. 



I want the top-bars exactly spaced; and I 

 find in actual practice that, no matter how ex- 

 actly the top-bars are spaced, the bottom-bars 

 will vary very much. I want spacers also near 

 the bottom of the end-bars. And I've never 

 yet seen any valid objection to having end- 

 bars and bottom-bars all the same width as 

 the top-bars, neither have I found any ob- 

 jection in actual practice, except the single 

 objection of cost. But as the frames are for a 

 lifetime, I want the better frames, and will 

 stand the cost. 



Please tell us how you get the bees to clean 

 up the wet combs. C. C. MinER. 



[If we attempted to suit the taste of persons 

 individually, and not masses, we should be in 



hot water all the time. It would be simply 

 impossible to please persons here and there, 

 of diametrically opposite notions. 



So many suggestions came in, to the effect 

 that we should shorten the projection to the 

 top-bar, and thus do away with propolis fas- 

 tening in the rabbet, we finally made the 

 change. That this change was appreciated is 

 evidenced by scores of letters that have come 

 in and are continually coming in. Friend 

 Mitchell seems to lose sight entirely of the 

 very reason why the projection was shortened; 

 but as you have explained it so well it is not 

 necessary to go over the ground again any 

 more than to say that, personally, I never 

 think of handling any frame, whether old 

 stj'le or Langstroth, by the projection*. I 

 can get a far better grip by handling the top- 

 bar near each end-bar ; and with thick top- 

 frames one can get a splendid hold for shak- 

 ing bees or for any other purpose. It is true, 

 we had narrowed up this projection slightly 

 for the reason that we knew that some per- 

 sist in handling the frames at this point, de- 

 spite the fact that there is a better waj'. 



I think you misunderstand friend Mitchell, 

 doctor, as to the kind of frame he was talk- 

 ing about. The staples that he refers to were 

 under the projection of the top-bar. The 

 frame that we sent him was probably a Hoff- 

 man with end-spacing staples. What he would 

 or would not think of staples as side-spacers 

 we can not say. 



But we do know that they are very success- 

 fully used in the northeast part of York State 

 by a large number of bee-keepers, as side- 

 spacers ; and i:nlike yourself, doctor, they 

 could not be persuaded to use those naughty 

 nails. 



While we do not court criticism from those 

 who would find fault for the sake of it, we are 

 always glad to have people speak out their 

 mind, especially if they desire to help us as 

 well as to help their brethren in the trade, 

 and I believe friend Mitchell is one of the 

 latter class. If he will come to Medina I 

 think we can show him that it is never neces- 

 sary to handle a frame by the projections. 

 If he had to handle closed-end frames he 

 would soon learn that the projections, for the 

 purpose of handling, are not neces.sary. Since 

 working with the Hoffman, all the use we 

 have for projections is simply a support while 

 in the hive. — Ed.] 



THE FENCE AND PLAIN SECTION IN CANADA. 



BY F. A. GEMMII^L. 



The sample fence separator and new section 

 arrived safely, but not in time for the Oxford 

 Co. Association. However, I was able for the 

 occasion, having fortified mj'self with the 

 three issues of Gleanings containing the ar- 

 ticles and illustrations concerning them both. 



Well, the whole matter was thoroughly dis- 

 cussed in an unprejudiced manner, and it was 

 generally conceded that a separator construct- 

 ed after the fashion of the fence would greatly 

 facilitate freer communication, and better ven- 

 tilation throughout the super, and also add to 



