1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



397 



THE APIARIAN EXHIBIT AT THE TRANS-MISS- 

 ISSIPPI EXPOSITION. 



Friend Root: — The apiary building at the 

 Trans-Mississippi Exposition is now nearing 

 completion, and its interior arrangement will 

 excel any thing ever before dedicated to the 

 exclusive use of bee-keepers. The building is 

 128x75 feet, designed after Swiss or German 

 architecture, with ample entrance and exit. 

 Its interior arrangement, with the operating- 

 rooms for filling exhibition jars, and for re- 

 liquef3nng honey, is most complete. The 

 exhibition-cases for honey extend the full 

 length of the building on either side; are four 

 feet deep, with glass tops, and when the ex- 

 hibits are in place they will be as attractive 

 from the outside as inside; and the visitor 

 passing by will be attracted to the inside in 

 order to see the wonderful exhibits of this in- 

 dustry. The center will be devoted to the 

 exhibition of supplies, and for such exhibitors 

 as desire to erect their own cases. Every 

 thing in honey and supplies has been listed 

 for award, so that, when the jury of award 

 passes on these exhibits, any meritorious arti- 

 cle will receive its reward. 



Opportunities will be left open as long as 

 possible prior to the opening, for such States 

 as are desirous of making exhibits, to come in 

 and get in place prior to June 1st. Douglas 

 County, in which Omaha is located, has taken 

 300 feet of space, and, under the supervision 

 of Mr. Auc. C. Davidson, Vice-president of the 

 Nebraska Bee-keepers' Association, will show 

 what one single county of Nebraska can do by 

 way of showing up its honey industry. Out- 

 side of Douglas County the State will occupy 

 about 500 feet of space. Other States are tak- 

 ing a proportionate space, and at this time the 

 bee and honey exhibit bids fair to meet the 

 most sanguine expectations of its projectors. 



For several days Mrs. Whitcomb has been 

 engaged in preparing an exhibit in beeswax, 

 which will outstrip any thing before exhibited 

 in this line, and must, like the exhibition, be 

 seen to be fully appreciated. The coming 

 meeting of the U. S. B. K. A. should be locat- 

 ed at Omaha without farther delay, where the 

 brethren can view the exposition and attend 

 this meeting at the same time, and where as 

 low rates are assured as to any other point, 

 and where the meeting is not liable to become 

 lost amid the hurrah of war and an old- 

 soldiers' reunion. E. Whitcomb. 



Friend, Neb., April 28. 



time to come. Since you take the front rank 

 in finding out new ideas and improvements in 

 bee culture I would suggest that you hunt up 

 the " Betsinger Perfection bee-hive." The 

 important part was the supers, which took 28 

 plain sections. The sections rested on metal 

 supports that were placed crosswise of the 

 supers. On the tops of the supports were 

 metal projections to align the sections. At 

 the ends of the supers were thumbscrews to 

 give end pressure to each row of sections. 

 The separators were fixed permanently in the 

 super between each row of sections. They 

 were made of wire netting or cloth, and tin 

 bound, and the meshes of the wire cloth were 

 large enough for a worker to pass through. 

 I know from practical experience that woven- 

 wire fencing is better than board fencing, and 

 it may be possible that woven-wire separators 

 are better than the "fence" separators, if 

 properly made. The wire of which the sepa- 

 rators are made should be very fine, and as 

 strong and tough as possible, and the separat- 

 ors should be held taut by end elastic tension. 

 The arrangement was invented about fifteen 

 years ago, and was described and offered for 

 sale by Mr. F. A. Salisbury, of Syracuse, N. Y., 

 in his catalog of bee-keepers' sujpplies for 1887. 

 Mr. Salisbury, I presume, can give you all the 

 information you may want in regard to the 

 hive. I should like to know how the veteran 

 bee-keepers of New York handle the frames 

 of standing-frame hives without pinching 

 bees, and do it quickly. Did not Mr. Ernest 

 R. Root tell how it was done when he wrote 

 for Gleanings a series of articles on his trip 

 through that State among bee-keepers ? If so, 

 have you any copies left of the proper num- 

 bers? E. A. Daggitt. 

 White House Station, N. J. 



[Yes, I well remember when Mr. Betsinger 

 put out the Betsinger Perfection bee-hive and 

 his wire-cloth separators, but I do not remem- 

 ber that any one found such separators very 

 desirable, even if we throw out of account en- 

 tirely their great expense. At the time, it 

 was reported, I think, that the bees would 

 sometimes build their combs clear through 

 the wire cloth as if it were not there at all, 

 and cap said comb on the other side of the 

 cloth. Such separators seemingly did not 

 offer enough barrier to keep the bees within 

 limits in their comb-building ; and, if I re- 

 member correctly, they were abandoned for 

 that reason. — Ed.] 



the plain section and the BETSINGER 



wire-cloth separator of 20 YEARS 



AGO. 



At the present time a great deal of interest 

 is taken in separators with bee-passages 

 through them, and in plain sections. This in- 

 terest is likely to continue for at least some 



editorial COMMENTS; A NEW DEPARTMENT 

 ASKED FOR. 



3Ir. Editor: — I have a few heads of grain to 

 help fill your measure. I fully agree with W. 

 Z. in regard to editor's comments. They are 

 clear cream skimmed from letters far and 

 wide. I consider the different departments in 

 Gleanings first-class; but there is one lack- 

 ing which should be named " Asylum," to be 

 used for the benefit of those with empty cra- 

 niums, who prefer their grandfathers' cleats 

 to a nice handhole on each side and end, and 

 those who are opposed to plain sections and 



