112 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Stanclarcl SectionlSlioulfl Hold 16 Ounces. 



C. L. BUC'KMASTEB. 



On page 771, of the Bee Journal for 

 June 9, 1892, I find the criticisms of 

 Mr. C. B. Jenks on the standard size of 

 sections as advocated by me on page 

 670. 



Mr. Jenks assumes that there is a 

 standard section, and the people are 

 familiar with that standard. This is 

 not exactly true : yet, I know that the 

 4^x4J4, of five different widths, is 

 very familiar in the market, and I be- 

 lieve the 7-to-the-foot is the most fre- 

 quently found. I have never used this 

 size, but I do not believe it will contain, 

 when separators are used, more than 

 9/14 of one pound. There are five of 

 these sizes in the market, and they 

 are all called "pound boxes" by the 

 grocerymen, and are sold as such. Now, 

 if all the comb honey were in the4Mx- 

 4% section, there would still be no 

 standard ; and, many times, the narrow, 

 sections would be substituted for the 

 wider ones. 



It is a well-known fact that the pro- 

 ducer of comb honey must sell his honey 

 to the wholesale dealer. » The crates of 

 honey are placed upon the scales, and 

 after deducting the weight of the crates, 

 the producer receives the price of the 

 net honey. Do you see that it does not 

 make any difference to the producer 

 whether his sections are full weight or 

 short? But when the consumer, having 

 bought of the retail grocer, weighs a 

 section, and finds it short, he says, 

 " What a fraud the bee-keeper is !" 



I see Prof. H. W. Wiley, in Bulletin 

 No. 13, of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, says that he was 

 not able to find a full-weight package 

 of comb honey among .the very great 

 numbers analyzed by the Division of 

 Chemistry. While I feel that the Pro- 

 fessor is a little too severe on some of 

 our honey-producers, yet I believe he 

 has told the truth about the packages 

 of comb honey, and I believe that Bulle- 

 tin No. 13 will do a great deal of good 

 in the direction of establishing a stan- 

 dard package that will hold what it is 

 sold for. The bee-keepers' associations 

 of the United States should do some- 

 thing to establish a one-pound section. 



The difficulty of making the change 

 from the 4^x43^ section to a standard 

 16-ounce section I wish to explain. 



This can be easily done by adding to 

 the height without changing the thick- 

 ness. This amount can be found by a 



proportion, e. g. : Assuming the 4%x- 

 43^x1% holds % of a pound, we have 

 % : 1 : : 4J^ in. : x in. From this we 

 have x=5% inches, which is the height 

 of the 4^x1% to hold a full pound. 

 This will add 1 5-12 inches to the 

 height of the super. The putting on of 

 this strip is the only expense of the 

 change — about 2% cents each. All the 

 other furniture will do just as it is. 



I think I have shown how the change 

 from a short weight to a standard, hon- 

 est 16-ounce package can be made with 

 very little expense. This section being 

 oblong, will easily distinguish it from 

 those now sold ; it will soon be sought 

 for in the market, and the producer of 

 it will be known as an honest man — 

 "The noblest work of God." 



Columbia, Mo. 



Tie Clipping: of Queens' Wings, 



EUGENE SECOR. 



I have had some experience this sea- 

 son that leads me to decided views on 

 this subject. In years gone by I have 

 practiced clipping, and the only reason 

 I can give for discontinuing it^is the 

 time it takes to go .through the apiary 

 and perform the operation. I can see 

 no other objection to it. I believe the 

 queens live just as long, are never 

 superseded by the bees because of it, 

 and for record purposes are more val- 

 uable than perfect-winged queens. And 

 when some swarms will persist in going 

 to the top of the tallest tree in our yard 

 (30 or 40 feet high), as they often do, I 

 wish every queen in the lot was under 

 easy control. 



Some one may say, "Use queen-traps 

 and catch them as they come out." 

 These have never given me the satisfac- 

 tion I could desire. If we knew with 

 any degree of certainty when a prime 

 swarm would issue, so that we should 

 not have to obstruct the hive so long, 

 they would do very well, barring their 

 cost. The automatic swarm-hiver is 

 another invention along the same line, 

 and open to the same objections in a 

 greater degree, and I have my doubts of 

 its practicability. 



The swarm-hiver, such as B. Taylor 

 uses, will be a good thing, I believe, but 

 of course there must be an attendant 

 present to use it promptly, or that will 

 be a failure. It is not always possible 

 to have a person constantly in the yard 

 during the swarming season. Ip a small 

 apiary it would hardly pay to hire, and 



