598 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



there was a little unoccupied time which 

 Mr. Chester A. Oltflstead, of East Bloom- 

 field, improved by explaining his rapid 

 method of handling- comb honey, scraping- 

 and crating it. He said a great deal of 

 time is unnecessarily wasted by many a 

 bee-keeper in getting his honey ready for 

 the market because his comb-honey supers 

 are faulty. The scalloped bottom- bars of 

 section-holders, he said, are a nuisance, as 

 the sections and bottom-bars do not fit each 

 other exactlj', causing propolis to be depos- 

 ited in places where it can not be got en at 

 very readily. If all the gluing is done on 

 the bottom or top of the section or the out 

 edges of the (beeway) section, then it can 

 be scraped off easily and quickly by sliding 

 the sections over a tightly stretched piece of 

 wire screen of '4 inch mesh; whereas if 

 any glue is deposited in the scallops it has 

 to be removed with a knife, which takes 

 more time. He does not use a top-bar to his 

 section holders; but for what reason I do 

 not now recollect. The section- holder with 

 a top-bar (in other words a wide frame) is 

 my own preference; and why this of A. I. 

 R.'s invention has ever been relegated to 

 the things of the past (by the manufactur- 

 ers) is really more than I can understand. 

 I can not 3'et believe that the honey- produc- 

 ers are wholly to blame for that, although 

 I find but few of the bee-keepers around me 

 who speak in high terms of it. I have 

 heard many objections raised to the wide 

 frame, particularly by those who had had 

 no experience with it; but none of those ob- 

 jections have been worthy of any consider- 

 ation. I believe I am in a good position, 

 judging from the merits of the wide- frame 

 super as compared with other kinds, as I 

 have the different styles in use. Give me 

 the wide-frame super every time. I can 

 handle them quicker on and off the hive; I 

 can take the honey out quicker than from 

 anj^ other super, and I can certainly clean 

 more sections from them in a given time. I 

 have many a time been greatly surprised to 

 learn how long it took some of the friends 

 to crate their honey. With wide frames it 

 is a short job indeed, and I have not used 

 Olmstead's screen-scourer either. But it is 

 with my sections as Mr. O. says: The pro- 

 polis is just exactly where it can be scraped 

 off with one swoop, and no fooling. I fully 

 agree with Mr. Olmstead — no scalloped 

 bottom-bars for me. A straight and (if 

 anything) a narrower bottom-bar than the 

 bottoms of the sections is what I want, and 

 top bar the same. Whether the separator 

 is solid wood, fence, wire screen, or what 

 not, is another consideration which may be 

 taken up at another time. 

 olmstead's method of putting paper 

 tra.ys in shipping-cases. 

 To return to Mr. Olmstead's rapid method 

 of crating honey: He has his own method of 

 placing paper trays, and the strips for the 

 sections to rest upon, in his crates, and he 

 is making some good points indeed. I may 

 be able to give an illustration of his device 

 if my camera will do the work well. The 



frame which pushes the paper tray — folded 

 around the Irame — into the crate has notch- 

 es cut out in proper places; and alter the 

 paper is pushed down to the bottom the 

 sticks are dropped in after putting a little 

 glue on them. A little glue was also drop- 

 ped into each corner of the crate before the 

 tray was put in, so the paper and also 



the sticks are held thus in their places. 

 As soon as the frame is withdrawn, the 

 outside sticks are finally put in their 

 places with a little glue, and the crate is 

 ready to receive the sections. 



A special point Mr. O. made, was, have 

 the strips in the crates short enough; when 

 a trifle too long they will cause the edge of 

 the paper tray to turn inward just a little, 

 and sections are apt to catch when pushed 

 down, and thus spoil the tray. The follow- 

 er usually sent out with the crate stuff is 

 placed by Mr. O., not at the outside, but in 

 the center of the crate. He thinks this will 

 serve as a protection when cra.tes are 

 stacked up one on top of the other. 



I have never used nails to fasten the strips 

 in the crates, but always took gum arable 

 for this purpose. I could place them near 

 enough by eye; and gum arable, not setting 

 like glue, would give me an opportunity to 

 slide the strips a little one way or the oth- 

 er if it seemed necessary. Before shipping 

 the honey the gum arable would become 

 dry, and hold the strips perfectly. I have 

 never found it necessary to glue the tray 

 into the crate with my way of putting in 

 the trays. I can fold from three to five pa- 

 pers over a board of the right size at one 

 time, and with a little practice it takes al- 

 most no time to place the tray where it be- 

 longs. Then I drop in the five strips hap- 

 hazard, and stack up the empty crates thus 

 prepared. When ready for crating sec- 

 tions, the five strips are placed close to- 

 gether, side and side, upon the work-bench, 

 and with the brush the liquid glue is spread 

 on with one stroke; then they are placed 

 back in the crate by eye, as described 

 above. Prepared gum arable, if it stands 

 around long, will of-ten sour and become 

 moldy. A little salicylic acid stirred in 

 will prevent this. This little kink may be 

 be of value to some. 



Naples, N. Y. 



[This communication came in some months 

 ago; but owing to a lack of space at the 

 time, and owing to the further fact that 



