THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



#^ 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



One-Half Pound Sections for Honey. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



For sometime Boston honey dealers 

 have been quoting half-pound sections 

 of lioney iit prices about 5 cents per 

 pound higher than those quoted for 

 the one-pound package. Ttiese ligures 

 have set hundreds of producers to 

 thinking about auotlier change, wish- 

 ing, as all progressive men do, to 

 "keep abreast of the times," and 

 reap the protits that always accrue by 

 so doing. They also do not forget that 

 ■changes cost money, patience and time, 

 and they dislike to step out from the 

 beaten path, without some sort of 

 certainty that they are moving in the 

 right direction. Atourlate Michigan 

 State convention this subject was 

 taken up and discussed at considerable 

 length. I was reported as saying that 

 I was intending to adopt the half- 

 pound size. This was a mistake. 

 What I said was that my neighbor 

 bee-keeper (Mr. W. H. Shirley), to 

 whom I sold my Glenwood apiary, 

 finds 2-lb sections too large, and thinks 

 of jumping the whole distance at one 

 leap, and going, not to the one-pound, 

 but to the half-pound sections ; and 

 that we had been holding private con- 

 ventions of two, over the matter for 

 some considerable time. 



Since the report appeared I have 

 received several communications re- 

 garding my opinion about the matter. 

 It has been said that" a man will give 

 his opinion when he will not give a 

 cent in money ; " that " advice is 

 cheap," etc., etc.; but the truth is, 

 these friendly letters of inquiry from 

 brother bee-keepers are gettmg too 

 many, not for my inclination, but for 

 my ability to answer, so I will try to 

 satisfactorily reply to all in this article. 

 My opinion is, that it is of great im- 

 portance that we should all use an 

 uniform section, if any, of this size ; 

 that it will pay to have some of this 

 size on our markets ; that we should 

 try to get to the best size and shape, 

 as soon and with as little expense as 

 possible. Just here let me make some 

 statements that, I think, are settled 

 facts. 



1st. Thin comb foundation, if good, 

 is used at a profit, even at $1.00 per 

 pound. 



2d. The thinner a card of honey is, 

 the more surface and look of " quan- 

 tity " it presents, in proportion to its 

 weight or real amount. 



3d. The thinner the comb is to be 

 built the straighter it will be, all other 

 influences being equal. 



4th. Tlie thinner it is the sooner the 

 honey will be ripened, fit to seal, and 

 the sooner sections will be finished, 

 ready to come off. 



These thin combs would, without 

 the use of comb foundation, cost more 

 in proportion to their capacity than 

 thicker ones ; but, with its use, prob- 



ably less. But, again, nothing but 

 perfectly-made foundation will be fit 

 for combs as thin as would weigh only 

 one-half pou"d, yet made in 4ix4i sec- 

 tions. I have some other reasons to 

 make me fear to cut the combs down 

 to this tliinness, as was mentioned at 

 our State convention. 



5th. If tbe weight be reduced one- 

 half by thinning the 4ix4i sections 

 alone, they will be extremely tliin,and 

 we who use the case method will have 

 no alterations to make, and only to 

 order sections 9 or 10, instead of 7 to 

 the foot 



6th. If the same reduction is made 

 by cutting down the size of tlie square 

 of the section alone, and this being 

 done only horizontally, leaving the 

 thickness (2 inches) the same, thus 

 adapting the new standard one-half 

 pound section to the present broad 

 frames in use, fitting the present form 

 of the tin separators, as they would, 

 making a section 4i inches high by 2 

 thick, and say 2 wide, tlien this size 

 would necessitate no clianges to those 

 who use broad frames, and while they 

 would loose the above-named advan- 

 tages of thinner combs, they would 

 gain one, viz. : that thissmallersquare 

 section would ship more safely. 



Thin combs will do away with any 

 n^ed of separators by even the least 

 adept and experienced, I think, and 

 also give us richer honey. Cutting 

 down the perpendicular width will 

 make our space greater up and down, 

 than horizontally, and bees prefer this 

 shape and in it fasten their combs 

 more securely to the section,as 1 found 

 out when I used the two sizes, 4ix6| 

 inches on its side, and 5x6 on its end. 

 ^ow, remembering that there is 

 often " danger in extremes," I am of 

 the opinion that a reduction in both 

 the directions named, will be best, and 

 that experiments will bring us to a 

 section (without separators) about H 

 inches thick by 4i high x 2i inches 

 wide, standing on end. These will not 

 fit any of the frames~er cases now 

 most in use, without remodeling, but 

 the truth of their appropriate shape 

 will still remain the same. 



In adopting this new standard small 

 section we cannot afford to have more 

 than one size, and we cannot afford to 

 sacrifice the best shape the least parti- 

 cle, to accommodate any fixtures that 

 any or all of us may have now on 

 hand. I know that actual experiment, 

 on no small scale, and by many apiar- 

 ists of good judgment and no preju- 

 dices, is the best method by which to 

 solve almost any problem in a branch 

 of science, but theory may bring us 

 pretty close to tlie true standard if we 

 reason carefully from facts already 

 well proven by our past experience. 



We who use the new case method 

 will have to knOck our cases apart and 

 add three more division spaces, prop- 

 erly spacing all, and nail together as 

 before. 



Those who use broad frames, if they 

 still presTtrve that system of surplus 

 storing (I would abandon it, I assure 

 you, if I did), will have to cut down 

 the width of their frames merely. 7 

 frames, 2 7-16 inches scant, will just 

 fill the place of 4 frames, 4i. Such a 

 frame, viz. : 4ix2 7-16x11, used without 



separators, will. I think, come as near 

 one-half pound gross as we can get it. 



I deem it a great advantage, as re- 

 gards the passage of the bees,straight- 

 ness of the combs, convenience of the 

 bee-keeper in examining the cases 

 (enabling one to see the condition of 

 the combs better), as well as driving 

 down the bees when removing the 

 same,and handlingthe sections inand 

 out of the cases and shipping crates, 

 tliat the narrow piece be not less than 

 I narrower than the wide piece, and 

 that this narrowness extend entirely 

 throughout the length of both top and 

 bottom piece of the section. We want 

 no corners or closed tops, and all the 

 above holds good for any section of 

 any size. 



It seems that no size of section, 

 whether filled in company with sepa- 

 rators or not, can be relied upon re- 

 garding any particular weight ; that 

 is, close enougli tomakethesale-with- 

 out-weight system an honest one. So 

 let us expect our half-pound sections 

 to be sold by weight, and not by the 

 piece. With separators to hold the 

 same amount of honey, the sections 

 should be i inch wider. Tliese " sep- 

 aratored " sections of honey have, like 

 "yon fellow, Oassio," "a lean and 

 hungry look," a look of much " tare," 

 that combs born without their inter- 

 ference do not have. 



WHO SHOULD ADOPT HALF-POUND 

 SECTIONS FIItST V 



My idea is like that of Dr. C. C. 

 Miller's, expressed by him at our con- 

 vention, that all the sizes will be more 

 or less in demand, and he said if he 

 knew every one but he were going to 

 use the pound and half-pound sections 

 he would use the two-pound, as some 

 larger ones would be in demand. Now 

 this is a true system of reasoning. 

 Now, my own opinion is, that we shall 

 find that many more one-pound sec- 

 tions will be demanded than two- 

 pound ; many more of one-half pound 

 than of both the others together. 

 There are, no doubt, a large number 

 of beekeepers who ought, and are go- 

 ing to change from the two-pound 

 section to something smaller ; a larger 

 number, who have not as yet got 

 much of any fixtures of value. Then 

 there are those who are yet to enter 

 our ranks, and out of these three 

 classes we will get enough of that 

 size of sections to fill the demand to 

 come, without any changes on the 

 part of those who, like myself, have a 

 regular all-one-size and style of sur- 

 plus arrangement, all in working oper- 

 ation on a scale of considerable mag- 

 nitude and of medium size (one-pound) 



o p p ^" ] Of] Q 



For the good of those who are young 

 in the pursuit, let me warn them not 

 to encumber themselves with the great 

 inconvenience of two sizes of sections, 

 unless the demands for a total change 

 are imperative, and the two sizes are 

 not to be allowed to keep company 

 longer than the entire change neces- 



a if ji fpQ 



Since penning the above, ITind Mr. 

 Forncrook's circular on my desk. In 

 it I find quoted two sizes of halfi)ound 

 sections of the following dimensions, 

 viz.: one to he used in the regular 



