THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



199 



rejecting, as I prepared it for market, 

 all the sections that were not entirely 

 sealed over, and leaving out all in 

 which a single cell was broken ; and 

 after all to have it cut out, broken 

 out, and punched out with great big 

 thumbs and fingers, and dumped into 

 a big bucket to settle down and all 

 run into each other, just to save pay- 

 ing for the sections, was a little too 

 much. 



"I sustained myself as well as I 

 could by repeating over to myself, 

 ' Cast not your pearls hefore swine,' 

 and ' He that is filthy, let him be filthy 

 still,' and other scriptural injunctions, 

 but all would not do— I was mad— not 

 altogether from the money that the 

 sections would bring, but the wooden- 

 headedness of it all. But I only said 

 I'd know what kind of honey to bring 

 them in the future, and I'd cut it out 

 at home and bring it in a bucket, and 

 not have the honey dripping al! over 

 town." 



But how shall we market our 

 honey V Shall we labor on unceas- 

 ingly y Shall we produce the very 

 best article possible y Shall we ob- 

 tain special customers and create a 

 home market V Shall we organize ? 

 Shall we permit circumstances to 

 rule, or by faithful, persistent effort 

 orer-rule circumstances? remember- 

 ing that the resolute, the indomitable 

 will of man can achieve much, and 

 that 



"Heaven is not reached at a single bound. 

 But we build the ladder by which we rise. 

 From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 

 And we mount to its summit round by round."' 



Shoreham,*o Vt. 



For iDe Amencan Bee JoamaA. 



Pntting Four-Piece Sections Togetlier. 



UEUBEN HAVENS. 



The main point in making ready 

 sales, and getting the highest price 

 for honey, is to have it neat and at- 

 tractive. The eye as well as the 

 palate must be pleased. To secure 

 this we must have sections of uniform 

 size, neat, and nicely put together. 

 To accomplish this, I have been 

 troubled in these two ways : First, 

 in getting the bee-space between the 

 brood-frames and supers, so that 

 brace-combs would not be built, I 

 find it hard to regulate. A little sag- 

 ging of the frames when the spaces 

 are made exactly right.causes trouble. 

 In raising supers, and tiering up, the 

 sections become daubed with honey 

 and comb. 



The other diflBculty has been in 

 getting sections put together snug, 

 solid and smooth. Sections are not 

 always of exact length and thickness, 

 and in putting them together the ends 

 of the dovetail often project so that it 

 is impossible to fit them snugly in the 

 supers and shipping-cases. They are 

 out of square, and in packing the 

 combs are cracked, causing leakage, 

 making it very disagreeable to handle 

 the honey, and it is impossible to sell 

 it for anything but a second-class 

 article. 



For some time I have been experi- 

 menting with a device for putting 



four-piece dovetailed sections to- 

 gether. It consists of an iron plate 

 4J^xl2 inches, slightly concave the 

 long way, with two beveled jaws at- 

 tached, one solid, the other movable, 

 and adjustable to any size of section. 

 To use it, place it on a bench, or if 

 you desire to sit, take it on the lap. 

 drop one side of the section between 

 the jaws, place another piece in posi- 

 tion with the left hand, and with a 

 light blow with a hammer drive it to- 

 gether ; in the same manner place the 

 third piece, then remove and place the 

 fourth piece in the jaws and drive 

 together. 



I have just completed one with 

 which I can put dovetailed sections 

 together very firmly, and have them 

 of exact size, with no projecting ends. 

 If the pieces are a little long, it only 

 makes the sections more firm. It is 

 impossible to have the sections larger 

 than the size for which the machine 

 is set. I can put together one-half 

 more sections in a given length of 

 time than by any other plan that I 

 have ever tried. The device is very 

 simple, and if rightly made it cannot 

 get out of repair. It is durable and 

 not expensive. I expect to have my 

 honey in nicer shape the coming sea- 

 son than I have ever had it, by the 

 use of this device. 



Onarga,o Ills. 



For the American bee JournaL 



Legislation for Bee-KeeBers, 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Wlien I saw on page 57 an article on 

 this topic, with the well-known name 

 of "J. E. Pond" attached, my in- 

 terest was at once aroused. But the 

 very first thing comes up " priority of 

 location." Now will Mr. Pond tell us 

 of a single person who has ever ad- 

 vised, requested or desired any legis- 

 lation on " priority V" And if he has 

 reference to the question as to legis.- 

 lation given to a committee by the 

 North American Bee-Keepers' So- 

 ciety, there certainly was no "prior- 

 ity " in that. Why it is that every- 

 body tacks on ■' priority," I cannot 

 imagine. 



Although it may seem presump- 

 tuous in one who knows so little of 

 law as I do. to talk to a lawyer, 1 

 think that Mr. l^ond will bear with 

 me, if I say how things look to me. 

 He objects to special legislation. Is 

 that the same thing as class legislationy 

 I suppose it is, as several have made 

 vigorous protests in both prose and 

 poetry against class legislation. He 

 says special legislation "is simply 

 making laws for the protection of a 

 certain class against all others." This 

 does not materially differ from a defi- 

 nition of class legislation lately given 

 — " legislation in favor of one class as 

 against one or more other classes " — 

 so I suppose they are one and the 

 same. 



In the case under consideration, 

 what is the class in favor of which, or 

 for the protection of which, legisla- 

 tion is asked ? I suppose Mr. P. will 

 say, the class of bee-keepers. Now 



will he tell, against what class "i" Is it 

 against blacksmiths or lawyers? 

 Neither of these classes care a blue 

 button wlio keeps bees, or where they 

 are kept, any more than Mr. P. and I 

 care who has the oyster beds, only so 

 we can have plenty at low prices. Is 

 it against milliners or merchants? 

 They are just like the blacksmiths and 

 lawyers; and just the same indiffer- 

 ence will be found among all other 

 classes until we come to farmers, 

 gardeners, fruit-growers, and all tho.se 

 who have to do directly with the pro- 

 ducts of the soil. Is the proposed 

 legislation against these classes? 

 They are interested' in having plenty 

 of bees to secure perfect fertilization 

 of flowers, and so any legislation de- 

 sired by bee-keepers will surely not 

 be opposed by farmers. Does not the 

 objection then that the desired legis- 

 lation is against other classes, fall to 

 the ground ? 



Mr. Pond takes the ground that 

 " bee-keeping, like every other occu- 

 pation, should be governed by the 

 same general laws, competition alone 

 being allowed to control." We are 

 together there, and if the desired 

 legislation were obtained there would 

 be exactly the same competition 

 among bee-keepers that there is to- 

 day among farmers. He then insists 

 that " the ' survival of the fittest ' is 

 the only law that can be made that 

 will prove just and equitable." And 

 there we are decidedly not together, 

 if by that he means that bee-territory 

 shall forever remain open with no 

 boundary lines. If it is just and 

 equitable for bee-keepers, why not for 

 farmers? Neither do I think it 

 cowardly to ask for bee-keepers just 

 what farmers have. 



I confess to thorough surprise that 

 there should be such general opposi- 

 tion to a measure that looks to me so 

 fair for all, and which I believe would 

 be for the general good, and I can 

 only understand It by the general 

 agreement to unite the priority idea 

 with this. 



Allow me to impress the fact that 

 so far as I know, no one has ever ad- 

 vocated obtaining legislation in favor 

 of " priority of location." The inves- 

 tigation set on foot arose from the 

 present condition of affairs in the 

 business. It is the opinion of many, 

 and is in accord with the general ten- 

 dency in all other callings,thata busi- 

 ness can be carried on more profitably 

 if those engaged in it confine them- 

 selves mainly, if not exclusively, ta 

 that one business ; that is, it is more 

 profitable to have 1,000 colonies of 

 bees cared for by 10 men than by 100, 

 as the 10 can afford to be thoroughly 

 posted in the business, can better 

 afford to invest in the proper imple- 

 ments and fixtures so as to secure the 

 crop with the least expenditure of 

 time and money. But there is this 

 difficulty in the way : If a man in- 

 vests money and time for preparation 

 in tlie business, he wants to feel that 

 the investment is a safe one, and un- 

 der the present state of things il is 

 not entirely so, for after he has made 

 a fair start, there is nothing to hinder 

 one or a dozen from starting bees 

 close by and all around him. 



