18 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The Small Sections for Honey. 



This nppears to be the all-absorbing 

 topic of the hour. Several articles 

 appear in this number on the subject, 

 which is being thoroughly discussed 

 on all sides and in all its phases. 



Mr. James lleddon, of Dowagiac, 

 Mich., has sent us a nice sample of his 

 new half-pound, dovetailed, white- 

 wood section, described on page 27. It 

 is very handsome in appearance, and, 

 we think, of the right shape : 4U 

 inches high, 2 13-16 inches wide, l}i 

 inches thick. Mr. lleddon advises 

 caution in changing to small sections, 

 and says : " You may be sorry if you 

 do it." 



• Dr. G. L. Tinker, New Philadelphia, 

 O., also sends us one. Scinches square 

 and 1% inches thick. When filled 

 with honey, the one sent by Dr. 

 Tinker will look the most for the 

 money, but, we fear, the extra cap- 

 ping and comb foundation will make 

 it too expensive to be profitable. 



Mr. L. H. Scudder, New Boston, 

 111., gives some very strong arguments 

 against decreasing the size of the 

 package, and Dr. C. C. Miller, of 

 Marengo, 111., inclines to that side of 

 the question. The Doctor very sagely 

 remarks, that if many are going to 

 adopt the half-pound size, the present 

 marked difference in price may not 

 continue. 



Messrs. J. C. Newman & Son,Peoria, 

 N. Y.,who claim to be the originators 

 of the half-pound sections of honey, 

 describe the difliculties to be sur- 

 mounted in their first use, and advise 

 caution. They also say that separa- 

 tors are absolutely essential, and that 

 straight combs cannot be produced so 

 as to crate nicely witliout separators, 

 and find that those made of thin wood 

 are the best. 



Dr. E. B. Southwick, Mendon, 

 Mich., makes the following criticism 

 on the size of the small sections. But, 

 whew ! lie has gone down another 

 notch— to quarter-pounds— redttdio ad 

 ob.s«r&nn— perhaps. He says : " Mr. 

 Bingham has given 9?4 cubic inches 

 as the size of one-half pound of honey. 

 That, I think, is correct in extracted, 

 but not in comb. His shaving-down 

 experiment shows that it takes ny 

 cubic Inches to make one-half pound, 

 and when we measure the inside of a 

 one-pound section we find it contains 

 about 261.4 cubic inches, thus allowing 

 3^ cubic inches for extra, and I think 

 it is needed. As my hive is so ar- 

 ranged that I can use any size of sec- 



tions, I think, next year, 1 will try a 

 few 3i^x3j^xli^, upper side, for one- 

 half pound ; and a few 3x3x114, upper 

 side, for one-quarter pound. The fur- 

 ther we riui an absurdity, the sooner 

 we find we are wrong. There is al- 

 ways so much waste room between the 

 comb and sections that I think these 

 sizes none too large." 



The Bek Journal would strongly 

 advise caution. Let it be thoroughly 

 discussed, and, then, let afew be tried 

 and, if they will increase the con- 

 sumption at good-paying prices to the 

 producer, then increase the dose, 

 another year ; but do not attempt to 

 glut the market, else it may have the 

 opposite effect. 



All sizes will be needed to stock the 

 market, and if the •' ten-cent " pack- 

 ages of honey should revolutionize the 

 market, causing ten times the amount 

 to be used, no one could or would com- 

 plain. Any move that would increase 

 the demand for honey, is in the inter- 

 est of the producer, and will redound 

 to his advantage. 



The Strength of Bees.— The Noi-ris- 

 tmen Herald makes the following com- 

 parison between the strength of bees 

 and horses : 



Mons. Pateau has discovered that 

 while a horse can pull only six- sevenths 

 of its weight, a bee can pull twenty 

 times its weight. When some one dis- 

 covers how to grow bees as large as 

 horses, the latter will have to take a 

 back seat. But it would be fatal to 

 fool around the heels of such a bee. 

 With its javelin it could pin a man 

 against the side of the stable. Per- 

 haps it would be better not to raise 

 bees any larger than the present crop. 



(^ We regret to learn that Mr. L. 

 H. Scudder, of New Boston, 111., has 

 been severely injured. He attended 

 the convention at Chicago, last Octo- 

 ber, and helped to make that meeting 

 very interesting. A few days after 

 tliat, he returned home, and now 

 writes us as follows : " A few days 

 after reaching home I had the misfor- 

 tune to have a team run away with 

 me, by which I was so much injured 

 that I have been unable to perform 

 any labor. My right arm was dislo- 

 cated at the shoulder, besides being 

 badly bruised. My head also received 

 several severe cuts and bruises from 

 the horses' feet. However, I am so 

 far recovered that I feel that I must 

 be doing something." We extend our 

 sympathies to friend Scudder, and 

 hope he will soon entirely recover from 

 his injuries. 



Mr. Heddon as a Specialist. 



The Dowagiac Republican in a recent 

 issue, gives a long notice of the apiary 

 of Mr. Heddon, and its growth, year 

 after year. From it we extract the 

 following : 



One of the most important business 

 interests in this city is Heddon's 

 apiary and bee-keepers' supply manu- 

 factory. The proprietor, Mr James 

 Heddon, begun bee-keeping as a spec- 

 ialty in 1869 and was the first speci- 

 alist in Michigan, there being but few 

 in this country at that time. His 

 capital stock did not exceed $500, but 

 the business has increased steadily 

 since, giving him a nice profit, which 

 Mr Heddon has, for the most part, 

 kept in the business. He has owned 

 at one time as many as three apiaries 

 and 550 colonies of bees,having now 40O 

 colonies in his apiary in this city. 

 He has always produced both comb 

 and extracted honey, formerly giving 

 preference to the latter, but of late 

 years producing mostly comb. 



The largest yield of honey from one 

 hive, was 410 lbs, during one season. 

 The largest yield from one hive in one 

 day was 29% lbs. This was extracted 

 honey, except about 50 pounds of the 

 410. These figures only show what 

 can be done, with all conditions the 

 most favorable. With so many bees 

 as he now keeps together, in one 

 area (an area, or bee range, consists 

 of a field whose diameter is 6 to 8 

 miles),the pro rata yield is quite small. 

 \Vhere nothing was gathered before, 

 he has gathered together and sold 

 something over $20,000 worth of this 

 produce during the last 13 years. 



Mr Heddon has formerly given em- 

 ployment to one or two hands, dur- 

 ing 8 months of the year, and now he 

 employs three and four during the 

 summer season, and one all the year 

 around. 



This year's crop of honey was some 

 over half comb, the bulk of which 

 was sold to Colter & Co., of CiJicin- 

 nati, they sending $720 for 4,000 

 pounds, the price being 18 cts. per lb. 

 here, cash in advance. He still lias 

 some 3,000 pounds of extracted honey 

 now on hand (candied solid) which he 

 is keeping to fill orders for regular 

 customers, who depend upon him 

 from year to year, and the home trade. 



1^" The time for the usual winter 

 rush of correspondence is here, and we 

 wish to impress upon all our patrons 

 the necessity of being very specific, 

 and carefully to state what they desire 

 for the money sent. Also, if they live 

 near one post office, and get their mail 

 at another, be sure to give us the ad- 

 dress we already have on our books. 



1^" We are sorry to learn that Mr. 

 Paul L. Viallon has lost his little 

 boy— the pet of the household. 



^ Attention is called to our new 

 and liberal advertising rates for 1883. 



