182 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1. 



ally it has settled down almost into an axiom, 

 that, for good shipping, it is impossible to get 

 along withont separators; and the supposition 

 is that those who thought separators were not 

 needed were more easily satisfied than they 

 ought to have been with their sections. 



The practice of slanting hives forward is so 

 almost universal that probalily not a great 

 many could gi\e testimony as to whether sep- 

 arators are needed with level hives. If any 

 have had experience in that direction it is to 

 l)e hoped that they will give it, no matter on 

 which side. Certainly if we can get along 

 without separators it will be a great gain. 



I have tried your plan of putting sections 

 under brood-chamber in spring to have them 

 empded — put hundreds ot them under — but it 

 didn't work well with me. The bees didn't 

 empty them up promptly, as I expected, but 

 very slowly; and by the time they were emp- 

 tied they were darkened and utterly unfit to 

 use. Your management may have been differ- 

 ent. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo. 111. 



[I admire the frankness of friend Ranson, 

 and I am glad he has spoken just exactly as 

 he feels. To start with, I can sinmier the 

 whole matter down in a nutshell, by saying 

 what we all three know to Ijie true, that it is 

 not possil)le to please every one. Friend R. 

 and Dr. Miller think there is nothing better 

 than the T super ; and I am well aware that 

 there are many other good bee-keepers who 

 think the same thing. If I am correct, the 

 most extensive bee-keeper in the world, Capt. 

 Hetherington, uses the T super; and there are 

 other prominent bee-keepers, such as A. E. 

 Man urn and Hon. Geo. E. Hilton, who could 

 not be persuaded to use any thing else. On 

 the other hand, there are others who think 

 the T super is simply intolerable, in evidence 

 of which I would refer to S. A. Niver's article 

 in our issue for Feb. 1, page 81. 



Our position as supply dealers and manu- 

 facturers is to furnish what bee-keepers call 

 for, and at the same time suggest and intro- 

 duce improvements that, in our judgment, will 

 be a benefit to the industry as a whole. 



Do not misunderstand us, friend R. When 

 we introduced the fence we did not expect nor 

 do we now advise bee-keepers to discard their 

 old supers; but if the plain section has merits, 

 it is perfectly evident (if one will follow care- 

 fully the printed matter that has been put out 

 in regard to them ) that it can be used in the 

 old-style supers; and there are special fences 

 made to fit these old T supers, old section- 

 holders in old supers. Assuming that sections 

 have to be bought every year, the bee-keeper 

 loses nothing by substituting plain sections in 

 place of the old-style bee-ways; and the only 

 added expense is for fences to take the ^place 

 of old separators which, if made of a thin 

 slice of wood, are probably ready for the kin- 

 dling-pile if they are ready for any thing. 



A part of the expense of the fence can be 

 offset bv the saving effected in shipping-cases. 



With'regard to the tall section, Dr. Miller 

 has covered that point. In addition, I might 

 say we did not introduce the 4x5 for the fun of 

 it, but because we knew we were losing a large 



trade from some bee-keepers who were actual- 

 ly making their own goods, so as to get what 

 they wanted. 



Yes, friend R., a 5x4 '4 section can l>e used 

 in old-style supers and section-holders by put- 

 ting on a rim to nidke up the extra depth; but 

 it is apparent these 5x4 '4 will hold more than 

 a pound, unless made so thin as to render old 

 section -holders useless, and there, 3'ou see, 

 you would l)e running into the very snag you 

 would have us avoid. We adopted tall sec- 

 tions (.') 5,^x5) that could be used in the ordi- 

 nary eight-frame super by simply adding on a 

 rim and plain slats to support them. The 

 width of 35-8x5 was fixed upon because 5 such 

 sections would just fill out the space in the 

 length of an e^glit frame super, such as thou- 

 sands of bee-keepers are now using; and as 

 there is a great demand for sections holding 

 from 12 to 14 ounces of honey, this style of 

 section will fill the bill for a tall section. It is 

 very near the size used by Mr. Morton and 

 Mr. Doolittle. The 4x5 is the same thing as 

 the section used by Capt. Hetherington (o'sx 

 5), with the exception that we employ even 

 inches; and these even inches make the sec- 

 tion hold an even pound. There are some 

 who want a section that will average as nearly 

 a pound as possible, and this 4x5 fills the bill. 



I doubt very much whether the average bee- 

 keeper could dispense with separators, even if 

 he did level up his hives. I say " average, " 

 because I know the general run of them secure 

 honey that is bulged and uncratable. vSeveral 

 times we have come near deciding that we 

 would absolutely refuse to buy honey unless 

 it had been produced with separators. Now, 

 I am not saj'ing that friend Ranson or anybody 

 else can not produce cratable honey, but a de- 

 vice or system that will work for one might 

 be vt ry unsatisfactory for the masses. For 

 this reason, as Dr. Miller has well said, the 

 Heddon non-separator case did not prove to 

 be popular, and I know it was used by some 

 who were expert bee-keepers. 



With regard to giving better ventilation by 

 the construction of the bottom-board at the 

 entrance, there might be a difference of opin- 

 ion as to which would be quicker^ — the manip- 

 ulation of a reversible bottom-board or a series 

 of movable slats. We selected the Danzen- 

 baker reversible, not that we ourselves would 

 necessarily use it one way at one time of the 

 year and one way at another time, but be- 

 cause we wanted one that could be adapted to 

 the diverse notions of two classes of bee-keep- 

 ers — one class who insist that the bottom-bars 

 of the frames must come wiihin 's inch of the 

 floor of the hive ; and the other class who 

 want plenty of ventilation and a large en- 

 trance. 



Lam glad this whole question has come up, 

 because, when Gleanings gets to a point 

 where it will not print or will not listen to 

 the " other side," then it will cease to be serv- 

 ing its real purpose. There is at least one 

 point upon which we perhaps all agree, and 

 that is on the value of deep and large en- 

 trances. Perhaps friend R. will tell us why 

 the deep entrance is better than the shallow 

 one. — Ed.] 



