210 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



Aug. 



after the box is all made. If a glass should 

 l>e accidentally broken, one may be easily 

 slipped in by simply unsci-ewing the cover. 

 The end boards are of I stuff, 9|- inches 

 wide, by 12} l>ng. Tiiay are rabbetted at 

 )K)th upper and lower edge to let in the toi?s 

 and bottoms, wiiicli are of f stxTtf, Tlie ends 

 of the end boards, are also rabbeted just 

 enough to receive the ghiss ; this is done by 

 a single saw cut. Strii>s of f stuff, 1* wide, 

 are put across above and below the glass ; 

 they reach below and are nailed into the 

 l)ottom board to give it strength. Tlie case 

 is completed, by nailing 8trii>s of the s;ime 

 kind on the ends of the end boards, and it is ] 

 then ready to slide in the glass. To have 

 them look neat, they should be well painted 

 before the glass is put in. Oui-s were so 

 much admired before painting, that we an- 

 ticipated an additional siuinise when 

 they were all painted a pure white, but we 

 were somewhat astonished to find that the 

 honey looked several shades darker by the 

 strong contrast. Will some of our feminine 

 friends who have a taste for appropiate col- 

 ors, tell us what shade to paint our honey 

 cases ? White soils too easily, with the 

 rough handling they will be likely to get, 

 aside from the reason mentioned. 



The two sheets of glass can be purchased 

 anywhere for about 12 cents, and we have 

 all the advantage of glassed boxes, with less 

 than i of the expense, for nothing can be 

 handier for a retailer, than to set this case 

 on the coimter and simply raise the cover 

 and hand out the neat little 1 lb. sections to 

 his customer. The case itself, tilled, is 

 about the best advertisement one can pos- 

 sibly have, and the contents are always free 

 from dust, and seciu'e from flies. No glass 

 is needed on the sections, for they are so 

 small and thick through, that they can be 

 safely wrapped up in a piece of paper almost 

 as well as a cake of soap. 



After we had tinislied the first one, it was 

 sent as a sample, with the remark that we 

 thought it should retail for 2o cents ; this is 

 their reply : 



The case of honey was received to-day and was un- 

 exceptionally in the hest shape of any honey we ever 

 saw for retailing. We had no trouble to g-et the 

 price, 25 cents at wholesale, closing out the entire 45 

 lbs. nett. We will say you may send us all you have 

 of such honey in same shape. We will either buy it 

 or sell for you as in times past. 



It will not be well to crowd it on account of the 

 outside cases or else we would say send all you have 

 at once. If you have a ton or two it will not matter, 

 onlv we would say send about 500 lbs. at a time, 

 which con 111 be sent by freight if it could bo trans- 

 ferred at Grafton with care. Htaiu & Kendel. 



Cleveland, Ohio, July 7th, 1877. 



Honey put up in this shape, will be pretty 

 sure to sell readily in almost any town in 



the U. S., and nothing further remains for 

 us to do, but study how we can get it in this 

 shai>e cheapest. I do not krtow that I ever 

 really enjoyed any work in the apiary more., 

 and that is saying a great deal, than taking: 

 off these little section boxes. 



I hardly know which i>lan is quickest, to 

 remove a wliole upper stoi-y and let the bees 

 leave it and go back into the hive before the 

 sections are takere out, or to pick out the 

 tilled sections as fast as completed, and re- 

 place them ^^^th empty ones. Wliere yoa 

 have a large number of hives with the boxes 

 mostly tilled, I would adopt the fomier plan. 

 Lift off the upper story and place it in front 

 of the hive. Now on this tirst one, place an 

 empty upper stoiy tilled with sections anti 

 fdn. After the bees are all or nearly all out, 

 sort out the finished sections, and put the 

 imtilled ones with new sections to fill it out, 

 into an upper story for the next hive, and 

 so 011^ mitil we get through. The bees will 

 work on sections partly filled from another 

 hive, just as well as one from their own as 

 far as we have been able to discover. Where 

 the work is considerable, a cheap hand can. 

 do the sorting and crating as well as anyone 

 else. A girl that is careful, one who will 

 not scatter the sections and knock themi 

 over against each other, is just what you 

 want. They are to be handled just like 

 eggs, and the fingere should be so clean, 

 that they will not soil white paper. If yoia 

 wish your honey to bring the highest price, 

 you must insist that no sections are left 

 standing about, but that each case or upper 

 story, is finished and covered up, before an- 

 other is opened. There are but two places 

 for all that are found, either in the shipping 

 case, or in the upper stories to go on the 

 next hive. If you have been so careless as 

 to have some of the fdn. starters that have 

 dropped out, you had better send such sec- 

 tions to the children of some of your neigh- 

 bors Avho do not keep bees. If you wish 

 nice clean true work, 



AL>VAYS USK THE TIN SEPAIIATORS. 



Although you can get sections that do 

 very well as a general thing without them, 

 the expense and bother of having even one 

 in oO bulged into its neighbors in a way that 

 would prevent its going into the packing 

 case, or having a coml) built l)etw^een, that 

 must be broken before they can be separa- 

 ted, would with us, pay for the separators 

 for the wiiole lot, especially as one set will 

 answer for a life time, so far as we know. 

 After the broad frames are procured, with 

 the separators, the only expense is one cent 



