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Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



George W. York, Editor. 



11.00 a Year— Sample Copy Free. 



38th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 14, 1898. 



No. 15. 



Plain Sections — No-Drip Cases- 

 Paper. 



-Parafflne 



BY F. L. THOMPSON. 



One is tempted to employ emphatic language on observing 

 the various changes being contemplated in bee-supplies ; not 

 because they are changes (that would be narrow-minded), but 

 because some of them are expensive. Honey has been steadily 

 going down in price; supplies have not, and will be even 

 more expensive if one wants to keep up with the times. I 

 contend that a legitimate and sorely-needed field of Inventive 

 energy Is in danger of being overlookt, namely. How to keep 

 the price of supplies in just proportion to the price of honey. 



It is stated that a higher price will be obtained for honey 

 produced by the new methods. This is undoubtedly true In 

 some few localities, according to reports. That it is In the 

 majority I am not prepared to admit. Prom what I have ex- 

 perienced and heard of the Denver market, I should expect to 

 gain nothing whatever by the use of plain sections. . Even as 

 far east as Vermont, it appears that plain sections of honey 

 bring no more in the market, according to the testimony of 

 Mr. Crane, in the January Review. We are therefore con- 

 fronted at the start with the probability that the majority of 

 bee-keepers will gain nothing, in direct cash value, by 

 changing. 



Plain sections require less work in their manufacture ; 

 therefore, they ought to be sold for less. In fact, Mr. Aspiu- 

 wall, in the Review, says his plain sections cost him less than 

 the ordinary kind. But it appears it is not to be so in the 

 general market, according to a catalog of a large supply firm, 

 which quotes them at the same prices as the ordinary kind. 

 This is not right. 



Then the " fences" are $1.00 to $1.50 a hundred, ac- 

 cording to style. Compare such prices with 40 and 60 cents 

 a hundred, the prices of ordinary separators. 



Shipping-oases have not followed honey down in price. 

 But why not? As long as the exterior is attractive, i. e., 

 smooth and accurately cut, I think it would really pay me in 

 the long run, taking everything Into consideration, to use a 

 case of workmanship and material no superior than should be 

 expected for 10 cents, while acknowledging the excellence of 

 the 1.5-cent ones. 



In regard to shipping-cases, one vital point has been over- 

 lookt. Time is money. It takes more time to nail up several 

 hundred no-drIp cases than it used to when they were of the 

 old style. The paper has to be cut and Inserted, and five 

 little strips nailed in each one. I am not condemning the no- 

 drip style, but would like to have It without so much expendi- 

 ture. After all, the old style cases are not so bad, when bot- 

 tom starters are used, and the honey shipt in such quantities 

 as to admit of making a regular pile in one end of a car, with 

 straw all around, and boards in front. It Is a question 

 whether under such circumstances It really pays to use the 

 new style at all. 



But this Is not all. We are now told that progressive 

 bee-keepers use thin strips of veneer between the rows of sec- 

 tions In the shipping-cases. These are $2.00 a thousand — 

 another expense. 



And perhaps still more. It Is hinted that shipping-cases, 

 as well as supers, ought to have followers and wedges. Great 

 Scott ! I 



PARAFFINE PAPER AGAIN. 



I don't see why this should be made a subject of con- 

 troversy. It is a question of facts. My bees deposit propolis 

 on the paper, tho tightly cushioned and warmly packt. If 

 others' bees don't, I congratulate them, and wish mine 

 wouldn't. But they do. 



There are two other disadvantages of the paper, not men- 

 tioned before. One Is, that it makes It so undesirable to In- 

 spect the supers from above, to see when It requires tiering 

 up or taking off, that one is forced to resort to the compara- 

 tively clumsy and tiresome method of prying it up. Inspecting 



F. L. Thompson. 



from below, then setting It down with the care which the 

 presence of the bees on the edges nearly always necessitates. 



The other Is, that the advantage It gives of securing sec- 

 tions with tops perfectly bright and fresh, only applies to one 

 super on a hive during the season. The others, having served 

 to tier up, will have the tops of tho sections as dingy as by the 

 ordinary plan of a " layer of air." 



No doubt It Is a neat and effective aid, tho not an Indls- 



