1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



653 



little, fill in the sections, and close it up 

 ag^ain. After the super has been opened i 

 time or two it works readily, and the K^rip 

 of the nails is sufficient. 



The sections rest on T tins, movable, and 

 tin strips alonpf the ends of the super. T 

 tins rest on tin or g^alvanized-iron snips 

 that are large enough to project out past 

 the cleats nailed to the sides. 



I first take off two shavings with a rabbet- 

 plane, on the bottom, so that the tin strips 

 and snips will "drop in" and not be more 

 than flush with the bottom of the super. I 

 use wood zinc honey boards and a '4 -inch 

 bee-space above the sections. These supers 

 should be made accurately. All the boards 

 cut 4,''g in. wide; ends 12 's long; sides 19 in., 

 and sawed in a miter box or saw table. 

 Make a sizing-board 17 '4 in. long'. This 

 will give you inside length f jr super. 



Nail one side to end flush, and put in the 

 sizing-board. Bring the other end piece up 

 to it and nail. Do the same with the other 

 side, and all the cases will be the same, in- 

 side measure, whether the lumber used be 

 thick or thin. All supers should be mea- 

 sured inside to be accurate. These supers 

 will tier up nicely. 



I will say here that wood strips to fill the 

 top seam between the rows of sections make 

 cleaner sections, after they are filled with 

 honey, than if T tins are used for the same 

 purpose. 



This is a short sketch of the super I use. 

 It can be manipulated very easily; has a 

 minimum of propolis; holds the sections 

 firml3'. 



I will say further that I have a closed- 

 end frame hive just 17 '4. inches long, inside 

 measure, frames 7 inches deep, to go under 

 these supers, that has no following board 

 nor wedges to get glued up. 



If you would care to know how I make 

 this hive I can give j'ou the description in 

 another letter. I have been using it for sev- 

 eral years, and will make one hundred 

 more this spring. 



Lone Tree, Iowa, April 9. 



[The idea of providing a space between 

 the outside of the outside row of sections 

 and the super side is one that S. P. Pettit, 

 of Aylmer West, Ontario, has advocated 

 for some years back; but instead of having 

 an open space he provides what he calls a 

 divider, bee-spaced on each side, and per- 

 forated with holes. This permits of a clus- 

 tering-space between the outside of the out- 

 side row and the side of the super. The 

 reason why the outside surfaces of the sec 

 tions in the old style supers are not as well 

 filled out is because there is not room 

 enough — too few bees to keep up the neces 

 sary warmth for comb- building. By using 

 wider supers (or narrower sections) and 

 giving clustering room, these outside sur- 

 faces will be as warm as the spaces in the 

 center rows of sections. 



Mr. Sherburne's experience is quite in 

 line with that of many others who have fol- 

 lowed Mr. Pettit. The reports were so 



uniformly favorable that the Root Co , some 

 two or three years ago, adopted this plan 

 in all their plain-section sup-'rs by putting 

 in an extra fence which in fff\ct is the 

 same thing as the Pettit divider. 



But our correspondent uses no separators, 

 much les5 fences. While it is possible to 

 get along without them, and some success 

 ful bee keepers do so, the great majority 

 have sooner or later begun using separators 

 or fences, for the simple reason that so 

 much of the non-separatored honey will not 

 crate for market. The average beginner 

 and the average bee-keeper had better not 

 attempt to get along without them, if the 

 experience of the great majority is any cri- 

 terion. Then I have talked with commis- 

 sion men in New York, Chicago, Albany, 

 and elsewhere, and they all condemn non- 

 separatored honey. 



Now, having discouraged the no separa- 

 tor idea, I do not wish to convey the im- 

 pression that Mr. Sherburne can not get 

 along without them; neither do I wish to 

 imply that his honey is not cratable or not 

 marketable.— Ed.] 



REPORT OF THE PHILADELPHIA BEE-KEEPERS' 

 ASSOCIATION MEETING. 



Held at the Root Apiary, Woodstown, N. J. 



BY ONE WHO WAS THERE. 



[The A. T. Root Co. at Philadelphia having bought an 

 apiary of black bees which it intended to transfer and 

 Italianize, invited the members of the recently organ- 

 ized Philadelphia Bee-keepers' Association to go iq 

 Woodstown, N. J.. June 11. where the bees were lo- 

 cated, and help eat a Bible supper of milk and honey. 

 The round-trip faie was $1.00, and quite a company of 

 bee-keepers were present to do honor to the occasion. 

 A report has been sent us, which we take pleasure in 

 presenting to our readers. — Ed] 



The association took the 1:30 train at the 

 Market St. ferry for the Woodstown apiary 

 on Saturdaj', June 11, the ride being 

 through a beautiful section of New Jersey, 

 and a good hour's ride broug'ht us to 

 Woodstown. This thriving village, situat- 

 ed about 26 miles from Philadelphia, is 

 composed of 2000 inhabitants, one of the 

 oldest villages in the State, and situated in 

 one of the most prosperous agricultural dis- 

 tricts in South Jersey. Two carloads of 

 milk are shipped from this station alone 

 every morning in the year. It is certainly 

 a location described in the Bible as a "land 

 flowing with milk and honey." 



The Root Co. bought out Mr. J. D. Coles' 

 apiary at this point in the spring, and at 

 their invitation the Philadelphia bee-keep- 

 ers met with the Philadelphia manager of 

 the company on this occasion, and they were 

 promised a good Bible supper of plenty of 

 fresh milk, Jersey butter with rolls, and 

 fresh honey cut right from the hives. 



As this apiary was all in ten- frame two 

 and three storr tiered hives of the Lang- 

 stroth patfern, all black bees, the Root Co. 

 was transferring for several days these 

 bees into lhf» rirrht V^me D->vetailed hives, 

 and It Ui .1; z.n^^ at the s me time. This 



