110 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



the Sja'ian queens it is now certain 

 can be transmitted in a new strain 

 having eveiy desirable quality, and 

 from these bees I confidently pre- 

 dict will be reared the great honey- 

 producing bee of the future. 

 New Phila., Ain. 15, 1886. 



For the American Apiculturist, 



SOMETHING ABOUT 

 SECTIONS. 



By Samuel Cusiiman. 



My first experience was with 

 nailed sections having thin sides, 

 and thick top and bottom, but I 

 was satisfied vvith them until I saw 

 a few cases of honey in nice white 

 poplar sections with dovetailed cor- 

 ners. They took the shine oflT mine 

 so thoroughly, that I would have no 

 others, but 1 soon found that they 

 were far from satisfactory, and 

 troublesome to put together and 

 stay in place, as they were not 

 dovetailed accurately, and would 

 not go together as they ought. 



After one corner was put to- 

 gether, there were three more to do 

 and by the time they were joined 

 the first corner needed attention, 

 and often the work would have to 

 be done twice, and when put to- 

 gether they would get out of square. 

 So while I had a thin section 

 beautifidly white, still it was un- 

 satisfactory and I thought of going 

 back to the nailed section, but their 

 thick wood and inferior appearance 

 caused me to look for something 

 better. I soon heard of and tried 

 the all-one-piece section, and was 

 ai)leto fold tliem without breaking 

 and witli little ti-oul)le. They were 

 quite stiff, thin and smooth, but not 

 so white as the i)oplar, liable to 

 stain if wet, or with age, and it was 

 almost impossible to fold them so 

 they woukl be quite square, and if 



to be glassed this was another ob- 

 jection. 



The white poplar made the best 

 appearance, and I must have my 

 honey in the most attractive pack- 

 age, and as I found some that were 

 almost perfectly made, I had less 

 trouble than formerly. 



I then heard of gluing dove- 

 tailed sections ; but to have glue as- 

 sociated with nice comb honey 

 seemed out of the question. How- 

 ever,! sent for a sample glued sec- 

 tion, and they were so true, square 

 and stiff, that I was ready to toler- 

 ate glue. They showed a slight 

 dark glue stain at corners, but f<M' 

 that I had what I had been looking 

 for. 



By using white glue, and but 

 little of it, I now am able to i)ut 

 them up so the glue will not show 

 and shall glue all sections this 

 season. There is a machine made 

 for gluing and putting together 

 sections which I have not seen, but 

 shall try if I require many thou- 

 sand. I have a wa^^ to do it, but 

 do not know that any one has 

 tested it, by which I am able to put 

 together and glue sections as easily 

 as I can without glue, and would 

 as soon do it as to fold one piece 

 sections. I hope some of the read- 

 ers of the"Api" will receive as 

 much benefit as I have received 

 from this method. 



I use in place of a mallet a strip 

 of wood one-half inch thick, a foot 

 long and two or three inches wide, 

 (one end is whittled for a handle), 

 white glue, hot and quite thick, a 

 suitable brush and an ordinary car- 

 penter's square. 



With the glue on one side and a 

 pile of tops and sides near by, I 

 take up a piece, lift the brush out 

 of the glue, touch one of the dove- 

 tailed ends on inside to it, stand 

 another piece on the bench and rest 

 the glued end on it, then with the 

 fiat of the strip, press the end to 

 make it flush with the u[)right piece, 



