1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



351 



unnoticeable in itself. I have never heard 

 more than one good reason for having this 

 corner up. Possibly there are two. One is 

 that, in taking the section out of the super, 

 the bottom is sometimes pulled loose, caus- 

 ing the comb to leak. It is assumed that 

 this damage would not be done if the section 

 were the other side up. But if sections are 

 removed in so rough and careless a manner 

 as this, there is likely to be more or less 

 cracking of the comb along the bottom of 

 the section, even if the section remains 

 whole. A better form of super, or more 

 care taken in removing the sections, will ob- 

 viate this trouble entirely. Any form of su- 

 per that requires the section to be removed 

 from the top is defective. A section should 

 never be pulled loose from its supports, but 

 alwajrs pried loose. If you use section- hold- 

 ers, msert a knife between the bottom-bar 

 and the comers of the two. inside sections, 

 which will spring the bottom- bar away from 

 the sections. Pry the separator loose in the 

 same way, and your sections can be readily 

 removed without damage. The other reason 

 given is that, if the comb is not attached to 

 the bottom, subsequent handling may pull 

 the bottom loose. To this I would only say 

 that you should have your combs attached 

 to the bottom of the section. If your combs 

 are not built down to the bottom, adopt bet- 

 ter methods, so that your combs will be at- 

 tached firmly to all four sides. 



THIN SECTIONS WITHOUT SEPARATORS. 



Dr. Miller thinks he would like to try sec- 

 tions less in height than in width, two bee- 

 way, 1|, and without separators. I saw 

 some honey to-day, in very much such sec- 

 tions, only higher than wide, and three bee- 

 way instead of two. Four beeway would be 

 better in most respects. The producer of 

 this had put the closed side of the section on 

 top, making the super tight on top. While 

 this would do very well for the first super it 

 would interfere with tiering up afterward. 

 As I take it, the advantage of the three- 

 beeway section used in this way is that the 

 closed side of the section may be placed next 

 the end of the super in order to prevent pro- 

 polizing to the super or section holder. The 

 center section would better be four beeway. 

 These combs, so far as I could tell from the 

 few I saw, were unusually straight for un- 

 separatored sections. They had been shipped 

 in from another part of the State, so I could 

 not learn who the producer was. I wish he 

 would stand up and tell us how he likes them 

 and how many of them he has used. I can 

 see some very considerable advantages in 

 them over the ordinary style and width. As 

 to having the sections shallower, I think the 

 bees would take to the shallow ones better 

 than the tall ones, and they would be better 

 adapted to doing without separators. One 

 objection to a shallow section is that, if the 

 comb is not well built down to the bottom, 

 there will be a greater proportion of unfilled 

 space than with a narrower section. How- 

 ever, this is easily obviated by using a bot- 

 tom starter or a full sheet of proper size. 



Besides, with these thin sections there would 

 not be as great a tendency to leave combs 

 unattached as with the thicker sections in 

 common use. [Another reason that has 

 been advanced is that the bottom of the sec- 

 tion, or what is the bottom while the honey 

 is being stored, will, when turned over, be 

 clean of travel-stain. This would be true 

 only of such cases where the sections rest 

 on supporting- slats like the section- holder 

 device, but would not, of course, apply to T 

 supers.— Ed.] 



THIN COMBS vs. THICK ONES FOR TABLE 

 USE. 



W. K. Morrison, page 85, is quite right in 

 saying that thin combs cut up much better 

 at the table than thick ones. The individual 

 portions are secured in much better condi- 

 tion, and with much less daub and waste of 

 the liquid honey than when cutting up thick- 

 er comb. This is true not only where honey 

 is cut up into individual portions at hotels 

 and boarding-houses (which places are, im- 

 f ortunately, very rare) ; but it is also true 

 of the private tables, especially those where 

 neatness and nicety of appearance are re- 

 garded as important. Such combs are more 

 satisfactory and economical to the average 

 housekeeper. Ask any observing woman, 

 especially one who is accustomed to dainti- 

 ness in her table furnishing, and she will tell 

 you that she would much rather put no more 

 of an article on the table than will be eaten 

 up entirely at that meal. If any is left over 

 it is more or less mussy and unattractive, 

 and is not eaten with the same zest by those 

 who are particular with regard to the ap- 

 pearance of their food. Any attempt to im- 

 prove the appearance of the remnant by 

 transferring to another plate is sure to be 

 more or less of a failure, and results in con- 

 siderable waste. With many families, hon- 

 ey that is not quickly eaten lies around un- 

 til the housekeeper throws it away in de- 

 spair and will not buy any more because she 

 concludes they do not like honey very well 

 anyhow; whereae, if it had been eaten at 

 once thev would soon have been ready for 

 more. This is another side to the story of 

 those who argue that people will buy large 

 sections because they are more economical 

 for the consumer. They do not realize that, . 

 for many people, it is real economy to pay 

 a high price for exactly what they want. 

 Furthermore, it is not true, as some have 

 argued, that it is always to our interest to 

 sell two pounds of honey rather than one, or 

 a full pound rather than a three-quarter- 

 pound section. Our best interests lie in giv- 

 ing the consumer exactly what he wants; 

 and if he does not know what is best for 

 him, it is our business to find out and then 

 supply it. I know there are some who will 

 deride the idea of paying any attention to 

 these minute details; but I tell you, my 

 friends, there is nothing that will pay us 

 better than to give our serious consideration 

 to these things. I have more than once be- 

 fore given it as my belief that we as a class 

 pay entirely too little attention to the final 



