FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 31 



FIRST SECTION HONEY. 



In 1877 I gave up extracted honey, the introduction 

 of sections having^ made such a revolution that it seemed 

 better to go back to comb honey. The sections of that 

 day were crude compared with the finished affairs of 

 the present day. One-piece sections were then unknown, 

 four-piece sections being the only ones, and there was 

 not a remarkably accurate adjustment of the dove- 

 tailed parts, so that no little force was required to put 

 the sections together. When the tenon and mortise did 

 not correspond, pounding with a mallet would make the 

 tenon smash its way through. 



In order to fasten the foundation in the section, the 

 top piece of the section had a saw-kerf going half way 

 through the wood on the under side. The top was partly 

 split apart, the edge of the foundation inserted, then the 

 wood was straightened back to place, I was not well 

 satisfied with my success in fastening in the foundation, 

 and in 1878 wrote to A. I. Root for a better plan, describ- 

 ing minutely the plan I had been using, giving a pencil 

 sketch of the board I used on my lap, with the different 

 parts upon it. In June Gleanings in Bee Culture my let- 

 ter appeared in full, pencil sketch and all, and he sent me 

 a round sum in payment for the letter, but no word of 

 instruction as to any better way ! I hardly knew whether 

 to be glad or mad. 



WIDE FRAMES. 



The sections were put in wide frames, double-tier, 

 making a frame hold eight sections (Fig. 3). I had an 

 arrangement by which the sections, after having been 

 lightly started together, were all punched into the frame 

 at one stroke, driving them together at the same time, 

 and another arrangement punched them out after they 

 were filled with honey. The super in which they were 

 put was the same in size as the lo-frame brood-cham- 



