238 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



BEESWAX. 



A FEW QUESTIONS PROPOUNDED IN REGARD TO IT. 



eNE of our friends who " wants to know, 

 yon know," proponnrls the following, 

 find we answer the best we know how: 



Will yon or some one of your contributors please 

 write an article on beeswax, and answer the follow- 

 ing questions? What is the wax product of the U. S. 

 annually? 



I can't give the figures, but I would sug- 

 gest tiiat about 100 tons a year is now used 

 in making foundation. 



For what is wax generally used? 



]\Iaking foundation. 



For what is wax principally used? 



Making foundation. 



Can wax be substituted by any other product or 

 substance? 



For almost every purpose, except making 

 fdu., ceresin, or mineral wax, answers; but 

 it will not answer at all for fdn. 



What will be the commercial value of wax after 

 scientific bee-keeping has reached its highest point? 



This is a pretty hard question. If the de- 

 mand continues to increase faster than the 

 supply, it may go up indefinitely. If, how^- 

 ever, our bee-men And they can produce 

 wax at a prolit, at 22 cts. per lb , even with 

 advanced modes of managing bees, I sup- 

 pose it will stay at about that price. I have 

 for many years been repeatedly astonished 

 to see wax hold its own, or even go down, 

 while such a demand w-as constantly increas- 

 ing for it, for the manufacture of filn. It is 

 now at this date, April 4th, steadily running 

 up, in consequence of the many demands for 

 it for foundation. 



Can a progressive bee-keeper afford to sell his wax 

 at 30 cents per lb.? H. S. Hackman. 



Peru, HI., March 28, 1883. 



No, I do not think he can. If he has fifty 

 colonies, it seems to me he should have 

 some sort of a fdn. machine, and work up 

 the wax. If he is too busy with work that 

 will pay better, it may be cheapest for him 

 to sell his wax and buy fdn. lint I am in- 

 clined to think he could make it more cheap- 

 ly, if he cared to. Who will answer the 

 above questions more definitely? 



i^ • 



A "KEVOLUTIOIN'' IN BEE CIXTUKE. 



OR, AT LEAST, A "REVOLUTION" BEE-HIVE. 



^N February number, in describing M 

 III fSiOO hive, you state that the ol 



Mr. St. John's 

 jt^ fSiOO hive, you state that the old cbaff-hive 

 ' problem (how to get at lower story) is solved 

 after a fashion. Now, let me solve it after another 

 fashion, thusly (only it may not work with a chaff 

 hive): Take a Simplicity hive, turn it bottom side 

 up, and set on your super. Now set two posts in 

 the ground, one on each side of the hive, and oppo- 

 site each other, with an auger-hole in each, near the 

 top. A pivot is to be fastened to each side of lower 

 hive, in center, near the top, to turn in these auger- 

 holes, so that, when you want to examine lower 

 story all you have to do is to give your hive a " tilt," 

 and up comes lower hive, down goes super; take off 

 cover which was bottom-board, and — there you are! 



The super, of course, would need to be fastened on, 

 as would also cover and bottom -board; and the 

 frames, by some ingenious device, would have to 

 be made to stay in their places until wanted. 



Now, I want to illustrate the beauties of this ar- 

 rangement for comb honey. You can run it on the 

 "Deane system," Doolittle's, or any other; you can 

 combine side (end) storing with top, bottom, or any 

 other kind of storing, with the least possible labor; 

 for instance, arrange some sections at one end of 

 the hive; and when they are ready to go on top, 

 give your hive a quarter turn, and — presto! sec- 

 tions on top. Now put more sections on the side or 

 end which xoas top; and when you take off the full 

 sections, replace with empty ones, and give your 

 hive another tilt; top is side, and side is top. "Won- 

 derful is the ingenuity of manl" The bees might 

 get cells a little crooked by this arrangement, but— 

 friend Root, you tell the rest. R. Touchton. 



Santa Paula, Cal., March 14, 1883. 



Well done, friend T. If you haven't given 

 us something new, you have at least revived 

 the old hobby of our friend J. M. Price, who 

 published and illustrated liis "reversible, 

 and revolvable," bee-hive in the A. B. /., 

 perhaps 10 or 15 years ago. Can't we have 

 it so as to put the empty sections in at one 

 side, and keep turning it the same way, so 

 as to take off the finished ones on the other, 

 something on the plan of the modern fruit 

 evaporators? You know Doolittle strongly 

 favors getting the comb built at the sides of 

 the frames, and then lifting them up on top 

 to be filled. Surely it would be less trouble 

 to simply give the whole hive a quarter 

 turn. Well, the idea is here in black and 

 white, for you all to work on. 



\ SI GAR FACTORY. 



HOW SOBQHUM SUGAR IS MADE, 



ET may not be uninteresting to the readers of 

 Gleanings to know that in the State of Ohio a 

 successful sorghum-sugar factory is in opera- 

 tion, and making a really fine article of sugar and 

 molasses, free from objectionable color or flavor, 

 and actually to be classed with our flne-grade sug- 

 ars. This is not theory, but fact. I helped to make 

 the sugar myself. Just out of the village of Jeffer- 

 son (i4 mile west) is a large imposing structure, the 

 big white letters upon its front, telling that it is the 

 "Jefferson Sugar Works," Henry Talcott, proprie« 

 tor. For years, two things have operated against 

 making a sugar product of Amber cane: First, its 

 own acidity; and second, the lime, which, while cor- 

 recting the acidity, was about as destructive to the 

 sugar crystals as was the acid. Then, nothing was 

 found effective to remove the dark, objectionable 

 color and flavoi'. These difficulties are now over- 

 come by the Stuart process at this factory. 



Briefly, I will tell you how sugar is made. The 

 cane is first run through the great crusher, which ex- 

 tracts about 95 per cent of the juice. It is then run 

 through a sieve, or cloth, to free it from pieces of 

 stalks, and it is then put into the "heating-pan" 

 and warmed up to about 185° when milk of lime is 

 put into correct the natural acidity of the juice. 

 The lime is stirred in, and the pan subjected to just 

 enough beat to bring it to a boil, when it is taken off 

 the fire. The juice is then emptied into a " settling- 



