1898 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



185 



He admits that the yellow bees will secure 

 more light honej', and honey of better quality. 

 But in localities where the honey is dark, or 

 when the season is of such a character as to 

 afford only the dark, the blacks were ahead. 



In my travels among bee-keepers I found 

 that the blacks or hybrids are generally used, 

 not because they are cheaper or easier to 

 breed, but because from the hybrids, at least, 

 more honey is obtained; and what honey is 

 secured, if in the comb, is whiter. When I 

 called upon Mr. Elwood I thought he had 

 about the meanest bees (hybrids and blacks) 

 to sting of any bees I had ever/f/L But talk- 

 ing about mean bees, I shall have to award 

 the palm to Mr. Coggshall, whose bees I have 

 written up in another column. In our local- 

 ity, where it is almost exclusively light honey 

 if any, I am sure the Italians give us the best 

 results, or at least the yellow hybrids. 



THE J. E. CRANE FENCE. 

 Some two months ago Mr. J. E. Crane, of 

 Middlebury, Vt., sent us a sample of a style 

 of fence that he thought miglit have some 

 merit. The cut below illustrates it. 



Mr. Crane believes most heartily in the idea 

 that freer communications from side to side 

 causes better-filled sections ; and while the 

 fence that we are making is a good move in 

 that direction, he would go a little further and 

 make it possible for the bees to go straight 

 across. To do this he drives wooden pegs 

 about }i inch thick, '4 inch wide and {\ long 

 through the slats, at the right intervals to abut 

 against the uprights of the sections. There is 

 no question but this fence would give freer 

 communication; but the chief objection to it 

 is that it is rathe* flimsy, the slats being held 

 0}i/y at the ends. Mr. L. A. A^pinwall secures, 

 in effect, the same result by the use of tin sep- 

 arators with transverse slots opposite the up- 

 rights of the sections, with little cleats above 

 and below the slots to bee-space the separator 

 from the edges or corners of the plain section. 



All of these things are worthy of our care- 

 ful consideration. If the regular fence that 

 we have adopted will secure as good results as 

 the Aspinwall or Crane separator, it will have 

 the advantage of being cheaper, and, to my 

 notion, much stronger. Let the brethren test 

 these ideas thoroughly. In closing, let me 

 say I am of the opinion that Mr. Crane is con- 

 sidering the matter of having his fence patent- 

 ed. And it may be that it would be well 

 worthy of a patent. 



HOW THE PLAIN SECTION BRINGS ABOUT 

 NEW CONDITIONS. 



Mr. Aspinwall, in the Bee-keepers' Revie'cv, 

 has another interesting article on the use of 

 plain sections. In speaking of them he says : 



Furthermore, greater care must be exercised in 

 handling and crating. If any sections with bulged 



edges are found, only one or two, at most, should be 

 put into a case. If placed near the center no abrasion 

 of the cappings need occiir when removing them, the 

 first row being the most difficult to remove. 



I fear we shall have .some complaints in the matter 

 of bulged edges the coming .season, especially where 

 imperfectly constructed .separators are used. 



The plain section will undoubtedly neces>itate some 

 changes in shipping-cases Each .section getting 

 closely against the adjoining ones will prevent much 

 if not all drip below, which may possibly prove ob- 

 jectionable, as the honey woulci be likely to run 

 through an entire row in the event of a sirgle break- 

 age. Even with veneering or heavy paper separators, 

 each one would be swamped in its own leakage. But 

 the plain sectii n, with its many points of excellence, 

 will more than balance the slight objections present- 

 ed. With well-filled sections and proper handling, no 

 .serious breakage need occur. However, I expect to 

 use less expensive cases anoth^ r season by leaving 

 out the supporting cleats and paper, as well as making 

 other slight changes. In the mean time I trust our 

 supply-manufacturers will anticipate all these things. 

 In a letter from Mr. F. L. Thomp.son, my attention 

 was called to this requirement. In consicleration of 

 low prices, we mu.st have cheaper shipping-cases. 



I do believe it is true that the plain section 

 will make it possible to make a cheaper ship- 

 ping-case than the old-style bee- way, or sec- 

 tions with "ears" on them. But this is a 

 matter that we can all experiment on during 

 the coming season. It is undeniable that the 

 retail and wholesale price of comb honey has 

 been coming down; so also has been the price 

 of supplies. But, if necessary, shipping-cases 

 might be made cheaper still, providing bee- 

 keepers would be content with something less 

 expensive. 



THE PLAIN SECTION IN CALIFORNIA ; AND THE 

 VALUE OF LARGE HIVES IN CALIFORNIA. 

 There are a good many interesting things 

 that I glean from the report of the California 

 Slate convention, as published in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. Among others I notice that 

 the plain section was favorably mentioned. 

 Some were exhibited by Geo. W. Brodbeck, 

 who pointed out the fact that they appeared 

 better filled, and that more of them could be 

 packed in a case. Mr. M. H. Mendleson had 

 used the Danzenbaker section, and had had 

 such excellent success in producing first-class 

 honey that he proposed to use them exclu- 

 sively in the future. 



But the part of the report that interested me 

 more particularly was that regarding the best 

 bee-hive. There are only a few lines, compar- 

 atively, relating to this discussion ; but, if I 

 read correctly between the lines, there was a 

 good deal more said on the subject, and I there- 

 fore wish I could have heard the whole in con- 

 vention. Mr. Mclntyre had used ten-frame 

 hives, but had recently introduced into his 

 apiary 60 twelve-framers, and prefers them to 

 the tens. This preference is based on the 

 fact that, when this twelve -frame width is used 

 three stories high, it will have a ' ' tendency to 

 give the queen the highest capacity for brood- 

 rearing, and for the prevention of swarming. " ' 

 A twelve-frainer three stories high ! Whew- 

 ation ! I should think it ivould have a tenden- 

 cy to accomplish the result stated. As our 

 readers know, my experience seems to show 

 that the two and three story colonies give 

 the best results in honey, and manifest the 

 least disposition to swarm. About all the 

 swarming we had at our out -yard last season 



