594 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



TOP-BARS THICK, MEDIUM, AND THiv. 

 Their Relations to Brsce-combs; Nomenclature. 



BY S. T. PETTIT. 



While perusing the bee- papers I notice 

 that some writers use the teims 'brace- 

 combs " and " burr ccmbs " indiscriminate- 

 I3'. Indeed, I opine that the average bee- 

 keeper has no very well defined discrimina- 

 tions between the two kinds. It is well to 

 have all names and terms well defined. 



Recently I have been looking- over the 

 glossary of the ABC book fcr your defini- 

 tions of brace combs and burr- combs; and 

 now I am of the opinion that, like almost all 

 human first efforts, they may with profit be 

 revised. A good many bee keepers can not 

 subscribe to them as they are; so, in order 

 that we may perfectly understand each oth- 

 er, and be understood by others, I will in 

 this article ignore the terms referred to and 

 use, instead, the term "wax,"' always 

 mentioning just where the bothersome 

 " wax " is. I am sure I can make myself 

 better understood by so doing. I take this 

 liberty because our authority. Dr. Miller, 

 has set or made a precedent, p. 791, 1903. 

 I am aiming at preventing the deposit of 

 wax where we do not want it, regardless of 

 names just now, by the use cf a proper top- 

 bar. 



I believe there is no part of the interior 

 construction of a hive that performs a more 



important function than the top-bar, stand- 

 ing as it does right in the road to the su- 

 pers; and that its improper make-up will 

 cause more mischief than the improper con- 

 struction of any other interior part of the 

 hive, except that of the queen-bar, or ex- 

 cluder. Indeed, I am not sure that even 

 the queen-bar should be excepted. Then 

 the very best possible should be the aim. 

 But among the great variety in use, the 

 question is, " Which is the best? " or has it 

 yet been born? The answers on page 132, 

 Aniej-ican Bee Journal, to the questions, 

 " Would you use a frame with thick top- 

 bars? If so, why? If not, why?" aiTord 

 quite a study, and give some information. 

 First, we learn that those who answer in 

 the affirmative do not all mean the same 

 thing; nor do those who answer in the neg- 

 ative. Mr. P. H. Elwcod says, "Yes, a 

 half-inch." Rev. M. Mahin says, "I would 

 not. I have always used a top-bar only )^ 

 inch thick." One calls K inch thick, and 

 the other regards it as thin. If the question 

 had been specific enough to ask, " W^hat 

 thickness do you prefer? ' ' likely the desired 

 information would have been given. My 

 purpose in this paper is to throw some 

 needed light if I can. Of those who give 

 definite figures, only three use so much 

 depth as % inch, while ten use ')% and un- 

 der. 



It seems pretty clear that Mrs. J. M. 

 Null voices the views of a large majority of 



AN OUT-APIARY OF 95 COLONIES IN AUSTRALIA. SEE PAGE 604. 



