8i 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEWi 



beside a lot produced -with separators, it suf- 

 fers from contrast. 



It may be just as white anid nice in every 

 other way, but the uneven reflecting surfaces 

 of the combs destroy its uniformity and 

 make it look worse in the aggregate than 

 the smoother, more uniform separatored 

 sections. 



Then comes the would-be purchaser, and 

 as he wants to see what he is buying, the 

 cover is pried up and he proceeds to inspect. 

 He has not been drilled in the mysteries of 

 unpacking bulged honey and he does not 

 know that there is only one row of sections 

 in the case that may be moved with safety, 

 so the one he picks out at random 

 has the projections scraped off as it comes 

 out. 



There are about three chances to one that 

 he will put it back sidewise or upside down, 

 which gives chance for more scraping, and 

 so of every one he examines. After it gets 

 to his store, his clerks and customers haul it 

 over in the same way. When a section is 

 sold it is wrapped up in a piece of paper just 

 as a bar of soap would be, laid in a basket, 

 probably bulged side down or with some- 

 thing on top of it, and rattled off to its des- 

 tination. If it reaches the consumer's table 

 without bruising and leakage it is a wonder. 

 The dealer finds by the time three fourths of 

 the case is sold, that the remainder is in 

 almost unsalable condition. The bottom of 

 the case is covered with liquid honey, oozing 

 out on the counter or wherever it is set. His 

 customers do not call for more and he has 

 hard work to sell the rest of the case without 

 loss ; so he concludes he does not care to 

 handle any more honey. 



Perhaps you think I have gone unnecessa- 

 rily into details, but you must remember 

 that little things count and that it is the 

 careful attention to details that brings suc- 

 cess in business. 



I have watched the progress of honey from 

 the apiary to the consumer, and I know 

 whereof I speak. The past season I have 

 bought and sold a great deal of honey built 

 without separators. I bought it for less and 

 sold it for less than good straight honey was 

 worth, but I would rather not handle it 

 at all. 



The producers of other goods intended 

 for the retail trade take the greatest pains, 

 not only that their i)roduct shall reach the 

 consumer in the most attractive and perfect 

 condition possible, but that the retailer and 



all who handle it may do so with as little 

 trouble and waste as possible. 



The honey producer by careless methods 

 discourages the sale of his product and 

 makes it unnecessarily expensive and unat- 

 tractive to the consumer, thus diminishing 

 his market to an extent difficult to estimate. 



There is another reason just in this line 

 for using separators, which is that they 

 make the sections more uniform in weight. 

 Almost all dealers prefer to sell honey by the 

 section rather than by weight, and most 

 consumers, too, prefer this way. 



In the long run they do not lose by it and 

 it simplifies matters very much to say that 

 honey is 1,5c a box instead of saying that it 

 is 20c a pound and that there are about three 

 quarters of a pound in a box, and then 

 weighing every section. If separators and 

 full sheets of foundation are used, there will 

 be but a trifling variation in weight. 



When the sections are filled with founda- 

 tion I do iiot think the yield is at all de- 

 creased by the use of separators. 



It may be thought that when only narrow 

 starters are used and honey is coming in 

 slowly, with cool weather, that separators 

 make the bees a little slower about begin- 

 ning work in the sections. After they have 

 once begun work, though, this disadvantage 

 disappears. 



As to whether tin or wood should be used, 

 the general verdict that wood is better for 

 loose separators and tin when nailed to wide 

 frames, is correct. 



I use both. Both have their advantages 

 and disadvantages, but I prefer the tin. 



Datton, 111. Jan. 29, 1891. 



When to use Separators ; Comparative Merits 



of Wood and tin; Tin Conducting 



Heat ; Dovetailed Hive. 



DK. O. O. MILLEK. 



^OU ASK about separators, " Is it al- 

 ways best to use them ? " No, if I 

 were raising only what honey I would 

 use on my own table, or if my market were 

 close by and would be satisfied to take my 

 honey directly from the hives without any 

 scraping, I think I should use no separators. 

 " When shall they be used ? " Whenever 

 you want your honey, (comb honey, of 

 course) to be packed for shipment in some 

 receptacle other than the one that was on the 

 hive. 



