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THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



has settled upon a small section, one 

 holding a pound or a fraction less. 

 These sections also command a 

 higher price and are coming more 

 largely into use every year. The 

 width of sections is of less concern 

 . to the consumer than to the producer. 

 Beyond question more comlp-honey 

 can be secured in the narrow sections 

 than in the wide, and if we are to 

 dispense with separators, which every 

 beekeeper should learn to do, then 

 the narrow sections are indispensable. 

 I J- inches is the width most com- 

 monly agreed upon, but anything less 

 than if inches wide is undesirable. 

 In shape we prefer a square section 

 and, if only i^ inches wide it should 

 not be larger than 4 J- inches square. 

 The 4i X 4i X i^ is much used but 

 it holds only twelve ounces on the 

 average. Some seem to favor a sec- 

 tion holding exactly a pound on the 

 average but, as filled sections vary as 

 much as two or three ounces, it is 

 only fair to retail by the pound. 

 Hence, the matter of one to three 

 ounces less than a pound is of little 

 account. Dealers find it an objection 

 in retailing sections that average a 

 full pound in weight, since some of 

 them in that case will overrun a pound 

 by an ounce or two which the cus- 

 tomer is apt to think should be in- 

 cluded in the purchase at the rate 

 per pound. 



Our choice of timber for sections 

 is the white poplar. Possibly if the 

 one and two-piece sections could be 

 made out of it they would be more 

 acceptable, but, as the poplar is too 

 brash to bend without breaking, it 

 cannot be used to make them. It 

 must be either dovetailed, which is 



preferable, or cut to nail. The white 

 poplar is the whitest and the nicest 

 timber in the world for section boxes, 

 nothing, in fact, could be finer. When 

 properly sawed it has a most beau- 

 tiful finish ; far nicer than could be 

 imparted by the common plane or 

 a planer. Basswood is the timber 

 selected for making the one and two- 

 piece sections on account of the 

 toughness of its fibre. Young trees 

 of rapid growth make sections nearly 

 as white as the poplar ; but the greater 

 part of basswood lumber used for 

 making sections is inferior in color. 



We have yet to consider quality of 

 workmanship. There are few people 

 who do not have an eye to the beau- 

 tiful. The exquisite finish and at- 

 tractive appearance of comb honey 

 are due to a workmanship that man, 

 with all his ingenuity, can never hope 

 to equal. To say that its appearance 

 is marred by placing it in an unsightly 

 package is only drawing it mild. We 

 would advise no one to do it. Let us 

 rather add in every way possible to 

 the " fancy " quality of comb honey 

 so often noted in the market quota- 

 tions, that an inferior package de- 

 tracts from this quality and hence the 

 market price, no one can doubt. 



It is undeniable that nice and per- 

 fectly accurate sections cannot be 

 made as cheaply as rough and inac- 

 curate ones, but we do not consider 

 the narrow margin of difference in 

 cost sufficient to cover the loss in sales 

 on inferior packages, although it ap- 

 pears that many beekeepers act on 

 the presumption that money is saved 

 by investing in them ; they seem to 

 forget that a fine package helps to 

 make sales and aids very much in 



