362 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



we admit for a moment that the hy- 

 brids will work more readily In sec- 

 tions, do we then wish to go back to 

 the dark ages of 30 years ago, since 

 which time we have been laboring 

 hard to get rid of these very hybrids, 

 and overrun our apiaries and the 

 country with them, and paying for 

 them the price of pure Italians V If 

 so, all right ; but when I want hybrids, 

 I shall not be seduced into buying 

 " bees for business " at a high price, 

 but shall get a colony of blacks and 

 hybridize my own queens at a cheap 

 rate. 



Experts will not be injured by this 

 sale of new strains, for they know 

 just what they are; but beginners are 

 the ones who are Injured, for they 

 suppose the strain which they buy 

 win duplicate itself through several 

 generations, till they learn the con- 

 trary by sad experience, and at the 

 expense of ruining their apiaries. 



Foxboro, Mass. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Half-Pound Sections. 



V,\ Z. HUTCHINSON. 



Mr. W. D. "Wright is mistaken If he 

 thinks that I am more solicitous for 

 the welfare of the half-pound sections 

 than I am for the welfare of any other 

 apiarian fixture. I wish everything to 

 stand upon Its own merits ; arid It was 

 the fact that many bee-keepers were 

 not willing that the half-pound sec- 

 tions should stand upon their ow^n 

 merits that inspired me to write as I 

 did. 



Half-pound sections probably will not 

 come into general use, and tliey may 

 be dropped altogether, but whether 

 they are or not, again I say, why abuse 

 them V Why Iook upon them as an 

 enemy ? Why hate them V Why rejoice 

 in their downfall 'f 1 can see only 

 one reason for this feeling ; and that 

 is, that if some bee-keepers succeed 

 with them, their denouncers fear that 

 they will be obliged to use them, or fall 

 behind in the race. 



Mr. Wright says that they are not 

 noticed in the market reports. Per- 

 haps the dealers can explain that. I 

 have seen them upon the market and 

 have seen them sold at a price that 

 made It profitable to use them ; but 

 the dealer handling them did not quote 

 them in his market report. 



I doubt not that bee-keepers, quoted 

 by Mr. W., as having used half-pound 

 sections for three years, were practical 

 men ; but if they failed to secure as 

 much honey as when larger sections 

 were used, they yet have something to 

 learn in regard to the " principles un- 

 derlying the production of comb 

 honey." Hear what Mr. Heddon says 

 in a letter to me, concerning the half- 

 pound sections : 



"I have just read Mr. Wright's re- 

 ply to your article, and wish to say, so 

 far as my report and experience goes, 

 I receive'd no fewer pounds of surplus 

 honey with the use of one-half pound 

 sections than with the pound sections. 

 They injured my business only because 

 they complicated it by the addition of 

 a size not not so much called for. 



"They were detrimental in the 

 apiary t!nly for the same reason ; that 

 they complicated the work and fix- 

 tures. I think them too small for 

 general trade, but for lunch-rooms, 

 restaurants, and such places, they are 

 in demand in small quantities at a 

 price that pays us well for the extra 

 cost of production ; which I estimate 

 at an advance of 20 to 25 per cent.'" 



Mr. Wright thinks that my compar- 

 ison of small packages of extracted 

 honey, with half-pound sections, "not 

 a parallel case at all." Is it not, so 

 far as the consumers are concerned V 

 And as I said before, so I say again : 

 '■ If the public are unwilling to pay the 

 cost why this feeling and prejudice 

 against half-pound sections." 



Eogersville, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal 



Objections to Dovetailed Sections. 



JER03IE TWICHELL. 



Having had inquiries as to my'rea- 

 son for discouraging the use of dove- 

 tailed sections as reported in my ad- 

 dress before the Western Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association. I will briefly explain 

 it as follows: 



The best section-box for all uses is 

 the strongest, stiffest and lightest. 

 Strength is required that they may 

 hold together well ; stiffness, that they 

 may not give at t!ie corners, and get 

 out of shape ; and lightness, that there 

 may be no more wood than necessary 

 sold for honey. My experience in 

 having comb honey overhauled on its 

 arrival, is that the best conditioned 

 crates are always those containing the 

 strongest and stitfest section-boxes. 

 which have protected the combs 

 against the jarring of the crates in 

 handling. 



I do not wish to be understood as 

 deprecating the use of dovetailed sec- 

 tions, more than any other kind that 

 has not good, stiff crates. As an ad- 

 ditional means of stiffness and securi- 

 ty to the combs, I would strongly urge 

 the use of glass, firmly fastened on 

 each side of the section ; and fitting 

 as closely as possible the inside of it. 



It is better that the inside corners of 

 the pieces forming the section be rab- 

 betted so as to make a shoulder for the 

 glass to fit in. This forms at once, a 

 stiff, solid and tight box in which the 

 honey will stand any ordinary hand- 

 ling, "and carry safely by freight almo.st 

 any distance. This is almost abso 

 lutely necessary for the shipping 

 trade, and I have almost made up my 

 mind to declme shipments of honey 

 put up in any other way. 



If some of "my shippers could seethe 

 amwunt of work and worry, and mixed 

 up messes that they have occasioned 

 me, not to mention the loss to them- 

 selves, they would certainly institute 

 a general reform in the "manner of 

 preparing and packing their honey. 



Out of nearly 1,000 packages of 

 honey prepared in the manner sug- 

 gested above, and packed in crates of 

 not over 2o lbs. each, with good hand- 

 holes cut in the ends, there has not 

 been 100 lbs. loss to the shippers. 

 While on the contrary out of the same 



quantity received in other shapes I 

 venture to say that after having done 

 all I possibly could to save it, there 

 was still an average loss of not less 

 than 10 per cent. 



For the immediate home trade it 

 does not make so much difference; but 

 for shipping, it must be made secure 

 against the rough handling in transit. 



And while on this subject there is 

 one other suggestion, I would make ; 

 i. e. with regard to color. No comb 

 honey which is dark, no matter what 

 the quality, flavor, or condition, will 

 sell as well as the white ; it will always 

 hang as a drug in the market, and 

 finally be forced otf at a sacrafice or 

 thrown in to make a bargain. 



This honey though, if extracted, 

 would sell very readily at 7 to 8 cents 

 per lb., and the wax at 20 to 30 cents 

 per lb., and really net more, and in a 

 shorter time, than if shipped in the 

 comb. But choice, white comb in 

 good condition will always find a ready 

 market at this place, and bring a fair 

 price. Two-pound sections will be the 

 favorite by about }4 majority. One- 

 pound sections will follow closely at 

 about 1 cent advance over the price of 

 the 2-pounds, and a few i^-pound sec- 

 tions may be sold at still 1 or 2 cents 

 advance. The i^-pounds need not be 

 glassed to carry" safely. Larger sec- 

 tions than 2-pounds should never be 

 sent to market. 



Kansas City, Mo., May 27, 1884. 



For tne American Bee JoumaL 



Correct Nomenclature. 



JOHN HEWITT. 



Mr. R. J. Kendall, on page 108, has 

 misquoted my article in the British 

 Bee Journal for Jan. lo. By reference 

 to it (page 31) you will seethe "jar- 

 ring " is to be done when the bees are 

 not on the combs. I distinctly say 

 jarring the hives or combs (with the 

 bees in) will make them savage ; and 

 he cannot find the place where I say, 

 " you have to tread on one to make it 

 sting." If things are to be called by 

 their right names, do let the princi- 

 ple extend to quotations. 



On reading his article on page 40, 1 

 think I can safely form several con- 

 clusions; one of whlcli is: he had 

 better, by all means, get some pure 

 and true Syrians, not Holy Land bees, 

 then he would have no swearing, and 

 handling bees would be a pleasure. 



While on this subject, allow me to 

 try to correct the Editor's foot-note to 

 Mr. Frank Benton's article (page 39). 

 I believe he will forgive my doing so 

 considering his anxiety to have every- 

 thing properly named : He says : "A 

 glance at the map of Asia will show 

 that Palestine is a portion of Syria, 

 bounded on the north by Lebanon, 

 and on the south by the Arabian 

 Desert. Syria comprises this whole 

 land, but extends north to Asia 

 Minor." 



It may do so now under the Turkish 

 rule, just the same as England when 

 spoken of. is understood to imply 

 Scotland, Wales, and very often Ire- 

 land also ; but an Englishriian is never 

 a Scotchman, nor, for that matter, a 



