CANDIED HONET. 



82 



CANDY FOB BEES. 



customers buy the honey cheaper : he is 

 pleased and they are pleased. 



A short time ago we cut ui) some brick 

 honey with a wire into packages weighing -5 

 ounces. These sold for a nickel. They went 

 off so fast we could not supply the demand. 

 For the sake of experiment we cut up one 

 tiO-lb. can of candied honey into 160 cubes. 

 The honey cost 6^ cents per pound. We re- 

 tailed these cubes at 5 cents each, or 13i 

 cents a pound— doubling on our money. 



After the trade gets educated to buying 

 honey in this form no effort at all is neces- 

 sary to sell it. The cost of the package is 

 practically nothing, and all trouble from the 

 honey candjing again is overcome, because 

 the trade has been educated to know that 

 such honey is the pure article. 



The time may come when candied honey 

 will be known on the market as a common 

 article of commerce; because when the pub- 

 lic gener lly understand? that such honey 

 must be of the best quality, and absolutely pure, 

 it will sell without any hesitation. 



CANDY POR BEES. There is just one 

 kind of candy that is used universally by 

 bee-keepers for queen-cages. While excel, 

 lent for this purpose it should not be used as 

 winter food unless in pans, where, if it be- 

 comes soft, it will not run down and kill the 

 bees. 



It is none other than what is popularly 

 termed the "Good" candy, after I. R. Good, 

 of Nappanee, Indiana, who introduced it 

 into this country. It was, however, first 

 made by a German named Scholz, many 

 years before. See "Langstroth on the Honey- 

 bee," p. 274, 1875 edition. By Europeans it 

 is, therefore, called the Scholz candy. 



HOW TO MAKE IT. 



Make a stiff dough with first quality of 

 extracted honey and powdered cane sugar. 

 Do not use beet sugar. These were all 

 the directions given at first ; but it 

 would seem that, from the difference in 

 results, more specific instructions are nec- 

 essary. Mr. J. D. Fooshe (or, rather, his 

 wife, who does it for him) has been very 

 successful in making the candy. Their 

 method is as follows : Take good thick hon- 

 ey and heat (not boil) until it becomes 

 very thin ; then stir in pulverized white 

 sugar.* After stirring in all the honey will 

 absorb, take out the mixture and thoroughly 



* Confectioners' siig-;ir — a jrrade ol' pulverized 

 su^ar— will not answer, as it generally contains 

 starch. Wliile such sugar is all right for frosting 

 for cakes it is death to bees. Be sure the sugar is 

 pure cane— not beet. 



knead it with the liands. The kneading 

 makes it more pliable and soft, so it will 

 absorb, or. rather, take up, more stigar. For 

 summer use it should be worked, mixing in 

 more sugar until the dough is too stiff to 

 work readily, when it should be allowed to 

 stand a day or two; if then so soft as to run, 

 a little more sugar should be kneaded in. 

 Much will depend upon the season of the 

 year. More sugar is required in proportion 

 to the honey in warm or hot weather than 

 for cool or cold weather. It should not be 

 too hard in winter, nor so soft in summer 

 as to run and daub the bees. For this rea- 

 son the honey, before mixing, should be 

 heated so as to be reduced to a thin liquid. 

 In shipping bees, the main thing to look 

 out for is to see that the candy does not run 

 nor yet -get hard. It is one of the nice 

 points in making this candy to have it just 

 right. Don't delude yourself with the idea 

 that a second quality of lioney will do. Al- 

 ways use the nicest you have. We get the 

 best results with first quality of clover ex- 

 tracted. Sage honey, for some reason or 

 other, has the property of rendering the 

 candy in time as hard as a brick, and, there- 

 fore, should not be used. 



There is not very much trouble in mailing V^ 

 queens to Australia, if the candy can be^;;^^, 

 made just right so as not to become too hard t, (J 

 nor too soft on the journey. If it retains a 

 mealy, moist condition, the bees will be 

 pretty sure to go through all right. See 

 Benton cage, under Introducikg. 



HARD CANDY FOR WINTER AND SPRING 

 FEEDING — HOW^ TO MAKE. 



Into a porcelain, granite, or copper kettle 

 (do not use iron) pour a quantity of granu- 

 lated sugar; add a very little water, and 

 place it on the stove. Stir just enough to 

 make a very thick syrup, and keep stirring 

 until the sugar is all dissolved; then cease. 

 Heat gradually, and keep a good fire until 

 it boils. Care will have to be taken that 

 the mixture does not overcook. To de- 

 termine when it has boiled enough, dip 

 the finger into cold water, then into the boil- 

 ing syrup, and immediately back into the 

 water. When cooked enough, the film of 

 syrup will crack on the finger as the joint 

 is bent. If one hesitates to thrust his wet 

 finger into boiling syrup, let him dip out 

 a little with a spoon and drop the contents 

 into cold water. If the residue hardens so 

 that it is brittle, and breaks between the 

 fingers, the kettle should be lifted off; but 

 the finger test is the more accurate. This is 

 what is called "cooking to a hard crack." 



