824 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



SELLING COMB HONEY IN FRAMES OR LARGER 

 SECTIONS. 



I see in Gleanings, pages 587 and 596, a 

 plea for larger packages of comb honey. I 

 produce comb honey by using extracting- 

 supers and shallow extracting- frames with 

 starters. These weigh from 3J to 5 lbs. 

 when filled out, according to thickness of 

 comb in a frame. This I sell at 15 cents a 

 pound by the frame or frames. I weigh it 

 before starting, and put the weight of each 

 frame on the top-bar. Customers seem to 

 appreciate that style of package, and I very 

 seldom fail to make a sale to those who need 

 honey, after I have held it up to the light 

 to let them see the clearness. 



I carry it to market in the supers by tack- 

 ing a strip of wood half way down the ends 

 of the supers with slots sawed out to hold 

 eight frames to a ten-frame super. That 

 keeps them from rubbing and breaking the 

 cappings when some combs are thicker than 

 others after grading. It also keeps them 

 from shding, which they would do after the 

 first frame is taken out. All I see that is 

 necessary to make a uniform comb is to 

 have fences to hang between each frame to 

 keep the bees from bulging them and mak- 

 ing thicker combs on some frames than 

 others. Doubtless supply manufacturers 

 would make such a fence if there were a 

 call for such. I should like to have some 

 myself, but have not been able to find any 

 in any of the catalogs. 



Several bee-keepers have adopted that 

 plan of marketing their honey since they 

 have understood my plan of selling, and are 

 getting a better price for their produce with 

 less labor than formerly. L. L. Grass. 



Charlotte, N. C, June 17. 



report OF THE TOWNSEND PLAN ; LARGE 

 COMB-HONEY SECTIONS. 



You ask for reports on the Townsend plan, 

 page 598. I have been pi-acticing this the 

 past two seasons, with this difference: I do 

 not extract, but sell these large frames 

 which hold five or more pounds, as large 

 sections. Honey generally sells here for 15 

 cts. per section, or two for 25 cts., custom- 

 ers knowing they do not hold a full pound, 

 so they take this readily at 12| cts. per 

 pound. I find it makes no difference if 

 placed in the center or on the sides, bees 

 invariably enter them first. I make these 

 large sections myself, but think it would be 

 a good idea for the Root Co. to place them 

 on the market. They should be the same 

 width as other sections, four-piece, and 

 might be dovetailed or nailed. I use the 

 fence between them, but no bottom slats. 



Ashland, Ore. W. W. Erb. 



SELLING COMB HONEY IN SHALLOW FRAMES. 



I want to tell you about my experience in 

 selling comb honey in shallow frames. I use 

 both shallow frames and sections on the 

 same hive; get more honey, and have less 

 swarming than I would if I should use sec- 

 tions only. 



I sell honey about three or four hours 

 three days in the week, and have sold in the 

 past thirty days 1500 pounds in shallow 

 frames direct to the consumer, I sell it a 

 little cheaper than section honey, but have 

 the advantage of getting each customer to 

 take from three to four pounds at a time, 

 when a great many would buy only one or 

 two sections at a time; and I get most of 

 the frames returned, and use them a second 

 time. 



I find that pieces of broken sections make 

 splendid smoker fuel, and have the advan- 

 tage of being right at hand, and ready to go 

 into the smoker; and where a yard is run 

 exclusively for comb honey the supply will 

 be abundant. J. M. Cutts. 



Montgomery, Ala. 



[For an answer to this question of a larg- 

 er comb-honey package, see p. 814. —Ed.] 



keeping hives covered with snow in 

 winter; a handy tool-box. 



I have kept bees only a few years, com- 

 mencing with one colony. We have had 96 

 lbs. of comb honey from one colony in one 

 year. Last year we made all extracted hon- 

 ey. We have wintered so far on summer 

 stands packed in chaff with a board leaned 

 over the entrance. We have snow most of 

 the winter here; and at the commencement 

 of cold storms or severe weather we shovel 

 snow over the hives and open the entrance 

 again when the weather is milder. We keep 

 the broad covers of the chaff cases on the 

 hives all summer. This gives double roof 

 with broad shade. 



We have a box for tools, something on 

 the plan of a horse- shoer's box, high enough 

 to be convenient. This has a receptacle for 

 bits of comb; also a place for the short stout 

 chisel to pry and scrape with, and the 

 curved-end (tack-puller) frame-lifter; also 

 a thin long-bladed knife for cutting comb. 

 There is a block with bit-holes (upright) to 

 hold a small sharp knife for clipping queens' 

 wings; a pencil for records; matches, etc. 

 There is also a place for the smoker and 

 brush, queen-cages, etc. Thus I have all 

 the tools in easy reach, and easy to move 

 from one hive to another. 



For record this year we are using pieces 

 of thin planed board placed between the two 

 roofs of the hive. When we wish to open 

 hives two or more stories high we place 

 common slat potato-crates right side up on 

 the ground— one for each super, placing the 

 supers across the top of the slats. 



Pratts, Mich. O. W. Clark. 



THE ALEXANDER PLAN A SUCCESS. 



I notice in your July 1st issue that one or 

 two parties tried the Alexander plan and 

 failed. Some time in the early part of May 

 I divided four stands of bees per Alexander 

 plan, and now have eight strong stands that 

 are working in the supers. I am only an 

 amateur in the bee business, but follow the 

 Review and Gleanings pretty closely. 



Denver, Col. E. C. Chisholm. 



