1809 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



125 



sown on very rich ground, and grew six feet 

 high, and was literally covered with bees from 

 June 24 till the end of July. They had half 

 an acre that was sown last spring. It was cut 

 three times, and fed to hogs and calves that 

 were shut up. She further deposeth : 



I just wish some of the cranks that call sweet clover 

 a " weed " could have seen those hogs. They were 

 the very best we ever had on the farm, and it was all 

 on ace "unt of sweet clover. They were not just nice 

 to look at, but tasted nice also, being the sweetest pork 

 I ever tasted. We will try cows next summer. 



»*/ 



In the issue for Feb. 1 the editor has a timely 

 article on the necessity of teaching apiculture 

 as a branch of farming at our apicultural col- 

 leges and experiment stations. He says it is 

 as completely ignored as if there were no such 

 thing. He says: 



When the matter is presented to those in authority, 

 the excuse is made that there is no money to pay even 

 the l oard and traveling expenses of a competent man 

 to present the subject, and yet money is found to se- 

 cure teachers in every other branch of agriculture. 

 Every two years the Legislature of Missouri is asked 

 to make large appropriations for the benefit of the 

 agricultural school, . . . but there is never a hint 

 ■of any of it being used for the advancement of apicul- 

 ture. At the present session the Legislature will be 

 asked to make an appropriation of $30,000 to advance 

 horticulture, but there is no thought of any money 

 being used to promote bee-keeping, although the hor- 

 ticulturist is largely dependent on the bees. 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE HONEY-BOX. 



The First Section Boxes; 2-lb. Boxes; Tall Sections 



vs. Square Ones; Sections 3^x5 vs. Sections 



4x5; A Few Cold Facts in Favor of Plain 



Sections. 



BY J. E. CRANE. 



One of the incidents of my childhood was 

 the attempt of my father to secure " box hon- 

 •ey." It seemed to be a common subject of 

 conversation how this could be done. I re- 

 member well the boxes of those days. Some 

 of them would hold from ten to fifteen pounds 

 of honey, while others held twenty or thirty 

 pounds. Some were made of planed lumber 

 yi in. thick, while others were full y z inch, 

 and unplaned. I remember my father trying 

 to market such honey, and coming home much 

 disgusted. Evidently a few boxes had over- 

 stocked the market, and he brought much of 

 it home with him. Later a piece of glass was 

 fitted into one end of the box to tell when it 

 was full. 



The first winter after I began to keep bees, 

 more than thirty years ago, I made up a large 

 lot of boxes nearly 13 inches long by 7 wide 

 and 5 deep, with sides and ends of glass, while 

 a few were half this size, which was as small 

 as it was supposed at that time bees would fill 

 or work in to advantage. In 1869 I secured a 

 large crop of honey in this large-sized glass 

 box, with a little in six and four and even 



three pound boxes, which were regarded as 

 apicultural curiosities rather than of much 

 practical value. Later on, visiting the New 

 York markets I fovtnd honey in boxes about 

 four by six inches square by five deep inside, 

 with two combs running lengthwise of the 

 box. This was believed at that time to be 

 about the limit of profitable reduction of the 

 size of a honey -box; and for some, I believe I 

 may safely say, for many years, was the stand- 

 ard size in that market. 



I have spoken of my own experience, for I 

 suppose it was the experience of many bee- 

 keepers of that time, and shows the gradual 

 reduction or change from a large to a small 

 box. Often these two-comb boxes would have 

 one comb fit for market, while the other wa . 

 so poorly finished that the whole box had to 

 be thrown out. How often in those days I 

 wished I could in some way separate the 

 combs ! but in vain. 



At last the section, with the edges of sides 

 projecting )i inch beyond the top and bottom, 

 appeared, with a separator to secure straight 

 combs, and it was found possible to secure at 

 least fair crops of honey in two-pound combs 

 that could be glazed after they were filled. 

 This has seemed to me one of the greatest in- 

 ventions in the production of comb honey. 

 And after a little time the two-pound combs 

 became the standard size, from one end of the 

 country to the other. 



But presently some adventurous persons pro- 

 posed a one pound box or section, as such 

 would sell for two or three cents per pound 

 more than the 2 lb. boxes. Others thought 

 that the loss in epiantity would balance the ex- 

 tra price obtained for the one-pounds. To 

 overcome this loss it was pioposed to have the 

 1-lb. boxes or sections built in large broad 

 frames in the brood-chamber, and the size. 

 4^x4^4 square, was adopted, because eight of 

 them would just fill a Langstroth frame, and, 

 if of the proper thickness, would weigh an 

 even pound. 



So popular have these become that they 

 have practically driven the 2-lb. sections from 

 the market. There is, undoubtedly, quite a 

 loss from the use of these small sections in 

 quantity, as I find many intelligent bee-keep- 

 ers find the product per colony has diminish- 

 ed, even in locations not overstocked with 

 bees. 



A very intelligent bee-keeper told me, some 

 time since, that, in a conversation with Mr. 

 Harbison, of California, who at one time was 

 the largest bee-keeper in this country, if not 

 in the world, said he could not afford to 

 use the 1-lb. sections, even if they did re- 

 tail at ten cents per pound, while the 2-lb. sec- 

 tions were retailing at fifteen cents, as the 

 smaller quantity secured, more than balanced 

 the lower price of 2-lb. sections. The fact 

 that the many attempts which have been made 

 to use a half or quarter pound section have 

 ended in failure would indicate that a section 

 of less than 4^x4^ is likely to prove unprof- 

 itable and quite impracticable. I tried it my- 

 self some years ago, but have not cared to re- 

 peat the experiment. Bees seemed to dislike 

 to build comb and store honey in very small 



