1904 



GLEANINGS TN BEE CULTl'RE 



645 



difference in whiteness or in an3' other way, 

 whether taken ever \s or "s t<p bars. No 

 drones among' the sections, and timely tak- 

 ing- off, are the ctiief factors in securing- 

 whiteness of comb hone}-. Bees don't g-o 

 hunting^ around for "old black wax" so 

 loner as their sacs are full of new honej'. 



My first effort at taking ccmb honey in a 

 scientific way was rather unscientific, as 

 my narrative will show. I give it for what 

 it is worth in this connection. It was a 

 good manj' years ago, and I do not know 

 that any one was taking comb honey with- 

 in thirty miles of my place, so it was not 

 easy to take lessons from others. 



Well, m3' hives had no bee-spaces at the 

 tops, and m}' supers had no bee-spaces at 

 the bottoms. The sections rested upon strips 

 of tin nailed under cr to the under edges of 

 the supers. The sections were filled with 

 foundation; the3' were l^s inches wide; no 

 separators were used. The top-bars were 

 ys inch thick, and had a V-shaped exten- 

 sion below them, and were spaced the s. me 

 as the sections — l^s inches from center to 

 center, so the spaces between the sectii ns 

 fitted right over the spaces between the 

 frames. 



Well, then, the supers, sections, and all 

 were set right flat on the tops of the hives 



I am persuaded that 1hey had been with 

 the bees a month after the honej- season was 

 past. Tbej' are a sorry sight, for at this 

 writing some are still on sale in the grocer- 

 ies, and yet I have never seen anj "black 

 wax " on the cappings; but they are badly 

 travel-stained. 



I do n )t wish to make this point too strong: 

 for, if really there is danger w/ien taken off 

 in reasonable iiine, we should know it and 

 guard against it. But in any case a ;s bar 

 is as safe as a "s bar, and, really, is not 

 a }il The thinner the top-bar, the more 

 easily the bees pass over it in winter, and 

 that is no small item. The thinner the top- 

 bar the more readily bees go to work in sec- 

 tions, doubted hy some, of course, but not 

 hy me. In a gcod flow, strong colonies 

 stick at nothing; but poor seasons test the 

 matter. 



In further support of thin top- ba rs I quote 

 what a manufacturtr said several 3'ears 

 ago, to be found on page 742, 1901: " This 

 is an exceedingl3' important matter; for if 

 top- bars of brood frames under proper con- 

 ditions are just as good |s thick as Js, we 

 could make twice as many out of the very' 

 same material which we now use in making 

 such a large quat tity' each year. It would 

 save he LV3' freight charges to customers, 



PKT'HTS SUGGhSTION FOR TOP-BAKS. 



and top bars, and tl ere was no hesitation 

 on the part of the bees. The3' went to work 

 and filled those sections in quick time. At 

 that time I knew nothing about putting sec 

 tions and supers under the first, so I put 

 them on top. When the flow ceased I was 

 anxious to see the section honey; so I took 

 them off, pried them off, got them off some- 

 how, and the sections showed no sign of 

 " black wax." 



Every year farmers bring hundreds of 

 sections to our town and place them in some 

 of the groceries so travel- stained, and the 

 wood so covered with propolis, as to leave 

 no doubt that the3' have been left altogether 

 too long with the bees. In some instances 



and the first cost and selling price could be- 

 come lower." " There ought to be strong 

 grounds for continuing the % top bar if it 

 is to be continued." I must sa3' here that 

 m3' inquiries, recently made, agree with 

 m3' past experience that there is no more 

 need of excluders over 's than over % top- 

 bars, both being of the proper width. 



But the question still comes up, " What 

 about the sagging? Can a ^ top-bar be 

 made cheaply with the needed rapidity? I 

 believe it can. I herewith send a photo of 

 a ^s inch top- bar showing a truss- wire pass- 

 ing under a piece of folded tin or sheet iron 

 ^4 inch deep and 5s inch wide. Cut the 

 material before folding, so as, to leave little 



