1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE ClJLll'Rr. 



595 



those who answer when she says: "I pre- 

 fer to have the top-bars of just sufficient 

 thickness to secure the strength needed. I 

 prefer honey in the brood-nest or super to 

 wood." 



I am not a little disappoin'ed that only 

 two make any specific mention of wax be- 

 hueen top-bars. Thej' are what gives the 

 most trouble. A few strikes with a suitable 

 hoe will clean the tops of the top-bars in 

 short order. But it is, indeed, a very dif- 

 ferent job to get the wax from between top- 

 bars. 



Mr. G. W. Demarce says, "A too thick 

 top- bar is a waste of room, and invites the 

 bees to increase the nuisance known as 

 burr-combs between the top bars." 



Being a believer in thin top-bars, and 

 knowing as I do that there will be less wax 

 between thin than thick ones, I here give a 

 selection of what some others say that sup- 

 ports my claim. 



At the last meeting of the O. B. K. A. 

 Mr. J. B. Hall said, while discussing the 

 best means of keeping combs in place while 

 niDving bees, that he had no trouble; there 

 were burr- combs enough for that, or words 

 to that effect. I am much obliged to Mr. 

 Hall for that candid admission, as it re- 

 moves some misunderstandings. Mr. Hall 

 uses a %-inch top-bar. 



Mr. Coggshall says, '' Jt is not necessary 

 to have J^-inch top-bars. The width is 

 what prevents burr- combs in New York — 

 Gleanings, page 485." 



Dr. Miller uses a y% top-bar, so I repeat 

 what he once said when speaking to Ed. 

 Root: " I attach more importance to J. M. 

 Mack's tool than you, for I can hardly agree 

 that the accumulation of wax and propolis 

 between top bars does no particular harm. 

 It means a good many bees killed if you 

 don't go slow, and in time the accumula- 

 tions become such that the spacing is great- 



pendicular spaces. May I ask the reader 

 to dwell a little upon this statement? 



Let us endeavor to get at the truth of 

 what is the best thickness of top-bars for 

 all Canada and all the United States ex- 

 cept those localities where climatic condi- 

 tions and quality of timber may possibly 

 require a top-bar somewhat different from 

 ours in construction. The arguments I pre- 

 sume that weigh the most with the seeker 

 of truth are, carefully conducted and ex- 

 haustive experiments, and attentive and 

 varied observations. 



To make myself better understood, I am 

 sending you a phcto of sections of top bars, 

 the sides of which are of unequal thickness- 

 es. By placing frames with such top-bars 

 in hives as shown in the figures above you 

 have virtually thin and thick top bars al- 

 ternated through the hive; that is, two thin 

 sides together, a fair representation of thin 

 top-bars; then two thick sides together, 

 which represent thick top bars (of course, 

 about % to fg inch bee spaces between the 

 bars). In one figure the sides are respect- 

 ively y% and /s, and in the other ;s and %, 

 The width is ] /g inch. 



Nearly a quarter of a century ago I made 

 quite a large number of frames with such 

 top-bars, and tested them in the brood- 

 chamber, and, later, in the extracting-su- 

 pers. Some of them are still in use in the 

 supers, and during all these years I have 

 seen more wax between the thick sides than 

 between thin sides. For many years no 

 care has been taken to place them as shown 

 in the figures; but they happen so once in a 

 while. In the mean time I used black, 

 Italian, Cyprian, and Carniolan bees and 

 their crosses; and in every instance coming 

 under my observation there was no depart- 

 ure from the universal rule — the thicker 

 the top bars, the more wax between them; 

 and, vice versa, the thinner the top-bars, 



pettit's suggestion for top-bars. 



er."— Gleanings, p. 791, 1903. And more: 

 If any one will take time to look through 

 Dr. Miller's excellent new book, 'Forty 

 Years among the Bees," and take a look 

 along the sides of the eight or ten frames 

 therein shown, he will be pretty well con- 

 vinced that the deep spaces between %-inch- 

 thick top-bars are irresistible temptations 

 to the bees to occupy them with wax. A 

 thinner top-bar, and the consequently short- 

 er space, alleviates that temptation just in 

 proportion to the shorter or shallower per- 



the less wax between them, all other things 

 being equal. I took both comb and extract- 

 ed honey over such top bars for years. 

 And, further, I took comb honey for years 

 over top-bars ranging in thickness from y% 

 to one inch, and the showing was always 

 the same. 



It will be gratifying to me if others will 

 experiment and observe carefully. I had 

 no axes to grind, but I desired to abate the 

 wax nuisance. The Y?, top bar properly 

 spaced gives good results in that regard, 



