208 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUIvTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



grocery that I visited. The case was marked 

 2 lbs. heavier than it actually weighed. I do 

 not know whether the commission man or the 

 producer was to blame for this; but I rather 

 believe it was the latter. 



It is rather queer that men should vary so 

 greatly in their opinions, as is the case with 

 Dr. Miller and Mr. Niver in regard to the T 

 super. I have used both the T super and sec- 

 tion-holders; and as I used the former before 

 I knew any thing about the latter it seems 

 that I ought to be accustomed to the T super, 

 and I prefer to use it, just the same as Dr. 

 Miller has done; but as soon as I gave the 

 section-holders a trial I quickly decided in 

 favor of them. I suppose it would not do for 

 us to all think alike, because, if we did, new 

 things would not be invented very soon. If 

 we all thought alike we should be like the 

 Indian who said that, if all men were of the 

 same opinion, they would all want his squaw 

 for a wife. But say, doctor, had you not bet- 

 ter throw up the sponge and confess to E. R. 

 Root that the section-holder arrangement is 

 best ? 



That is pretty big work mentioned in a 

 Straw on page 80 of Gleanings, where the 

 women could clean 1200 sections in a day. I 

 confess I am capable of cleaning only about 

 150 in a day. But there may be some differ- 

 ence in the sections as to the amount of pro- 

 polis, and probably I take more pains vdth 

 them than I need to. 



I think that Mrs. Axtell's 1500 sections 

 cleaned in a day by 20 women would be a lit- 

 tle nearer what most people could do, and do 

 it right. To be sure, we shall have to make 

 some allowance for talk when that number of 

 women are together. As 1 am obliged to hire 

 some help to clean sections I should like to 

 ask Dr. Miller confidentially whether that 

 woman is single or married. 



There is one point about the fence separator 

 that I can not see into. I have never used 

 them, but it seems to me there must be a mis- 

 take in its construction. I refer to the cleats 

 across the fence. For instance, the three cen- 

 ter cleats are Yz inch wide, as made by The 

 A. I. Root Co.; and as the two sections com- 

 ing in contact with the cleats are only % in. 

 thick, there would be % inch projecting past 

 the edge of the section on each side. Now, I 

 do not see how the bees can finish the comb 

 under these cleats level with the rest of the 

 comb. I will try to explain more fully what 

 I mean. The cleats on the fence are fa inch 

 thick, which would let the comb retreat jij 

 from the edge of the section, as I find by 

 measurements that % is the space a bee re- 

 quires to work in. Now, the way I see it, 

 this space, namely, y^ x ^ inch, is not large 

 enough for the bees to get their heads into to 

 finish it level, and consequently they will 

 have to leave a furrow or attach the comb to 

 the separator-cleat. Why not have the center 

 cleats on the fence just the width of the two 

 uprights of the sections — namely, % inch 

 wide ? As my ideas in regard to the fence are 

 only theory, I should like if some one would 

 explain this point from actual practice. 



Filion, Mich., Feb. 7. 



[I " smoled " another big smile when I read 

 what you say about the comparative merits of 

 the T super and section-holder arrangement. 

 Dr. Miller, encouraged by the friends of the 

 T super, in a recent letter, finally made bold 

 to fling this question into my face : " I do not 

 remember to have seen mention of many 

 cases in which section-holders were preferred 

 by those who had had considerable experience 

 with T supers. Do you know of one case?" 

 That last sentence rang in my ears. "Yes," 

 I said, " I know we have had lots of them." 

 Turning to Mr. Calvert, who sat near, I put to 

 him the same question. Said he, " We have 

 had hundyeds of them." My other brother- 

 in-law (the newly made one), Mr. Boyden, 

 whom I approached in a like manner, and who 

 did not know Mr. C.'s answer, gave practically 

 the same answer ; but not one of us could 

 remember a specific case. After writing to 

 Dr. Miller to that effect, then came along this 

 article of Mr. Tilt's; and I presume I should 

 not have remembered even this had not the 

 doctor fired that " one case " at me. 



I should really like a show of hands from 

 those who have tried the two arrangements. 

 Be sure to give your exact preference, without 

 trying to favor the prejudice or opinion of the 

 editor, nor of that other editor. Dr. Miller. 



As to your question regarding the fences 

 and the width of the cross-cleats, we debated 

 that question for a considerable time. One 

 class, among whom was Mr. Danzenbaker, 

 urged making the cleats only % inch wide ; 

 another class, among whom was Miles Morton, 

 and his brother-in-law Niver, insisted that 

 % inch was nearer right. We finally com- 

 promised by adopting Yz inch, because in 

 practice there is more or less end play, and it 

 is desirable to have the edge of the section 

 entirely covered. 



So you do not see how it is that the bee can 

 make the face of the comb level clear out to 

 the uprights of the sections. Neither can I. 

 If the cross-cleats are 3^^ inch, the face of the 

 comb will take a dip under the cleats. If it 

 is only ^ inch, it will take a dip under, but 

 only about ^^ inch from the upright of the 

 section. One object of this is to make it 

 easier to cut out the comb with a caseknife. — 

 Ed.] 



%%• 



NOTES OP TRAVEL AMONG BEE-KEEPERS OF 

 YORK STATE. 



Coggshall's Method of Extracting: his Kind of Ex- 

 tractor; Preparing the Combs for Winter. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



In our last issue I told you something of 

 Mr. Coggshall's method of opening hives, tak- 

 ing out the combs, and carrying them to the 

 extracting-house. I have already stated that 

 the building or structure that he uses at all of 

 his out-yards is a cheaply built affair, and is 

 not made with any reference to being bee- 

 tight. 



As soon as the hand-cart was loaded it was 

 drawn to the honey-house and the supers of 

 combs were piled up one on top of the other. 



