i eae 
‘ohne. 7 
i EN ae A ME” Py Ney eee 
406 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
can do that. It appears to me that our people are not awake to the 
importance of this subject. We must have the friendship of the 
lumberman inthis matter, because he is equally interested with us. 
We must not regard the lumberman as an enemy to our forests, but 
we must work hand in hand for the protection of our forests against 
fire, and when we have done that the problem will be practically 
soived. 
KEEPING HONEY AND THE WAX MOTH. 
C. THEILMANN, THEILMANTON. 
In order to obtain the best honey possible,it must be fully ripened, 
Some beekeepers manage to get a crop of surplus honey, but don’t 
know how or take time to take proper care of it after they take it 
from the hive. Some take it off too early, and others wait until itis 
all yellow,or what is called travel-stained. They do not heed the wise 
man’s advice, ‘‘there is a time for everything,’ which means that 
we should do everything at the right time. This is one of the most 
important points in any occupation; we can not make the best suc- 
cess at anything, unless we do it at the right time. Especially 
must we be prompt and very particular about everything in the 
apiary. 
Much of the honey put on the market is condemned by the con- 
sumers as adulterated, because the beekeeper has spoiled his other- 
wise nice honey by his mismanagement, to the injury of himself 
and of his brother beekeepers. Much more honey would be con- 
sumed and better prices paid if all the honey was managed rightly 
Comb honey should not be taken from the hive until all or nearly 
all of the cells are capped over. except when the honey season is 
over then all the surplus receptacles should be taken off immedi- 
ately,and all sections unfit for market should be extracted,and both 
comb and extracted should be put in an airy, well ventilated, warm, 
(seventy-five to eighty degrees above zero) room for four to five 
weeks, when the honey becomes ripe and marketable. Honey treated 
in this way will greatly improve in quality and flavor and will keep 
good for years. Cold, damp places are unfit in which to keep honey 
good. 
THE WAX MOTH. 
It is a rare thing to find the worms or moth in comb honey when 
treated as above mentioned, unless there be some pollen or beebread 
among the honey whereon they feast. To my observation there are 
three kinds of moths that trouble some bees and their keepers, 
though I never had much trouble with them. 
One of these moths is a dark gray,almost black,one and one- fourth 
inches long by about one-fourth inch thick. This species is: very 
destructive when they get hold of a queenless colony; they gather 
in big nests in the pollen and honey filled combs, eat pollen, wax 
and honey and increase their nest and web rapidly, until nothing 
is left but worms and webs.. As far as I know, the winged moth 
lays her eggs on the combs where they hatch. 
