2,'>s 



July, lf^l^ 



American Tiee Journal 



ernment, through Dr. Phillips, was 

 about to investigate the tremendous 

 loss of bees in the United States during 

 the few years past, and while this might 

 seem a laudable task, at first glance, 

 more study will make it look like ask- 

 ing Mother Nature why the increase of 

 all living beings is restricted. 



Germs will find lodgment in the body 

 and increase until, if unrestrained, they 

 would soon weigh more than the body 

 itself, and the germs are so small that 

 it takes vast numbers of them laid end 

 to end to equal an inch. When they 

 die a substance is formed called pto- 

 maine, and this is poison to the living 

 germ. Mother Nature cannot use 

 ptomaines on bees, but she has pro- 

 vided bad seasons, foul brood and 

 brimstone. There has, for some three 

 seasons past, been a woeful lack of 

 moisture; there has been little or no 

 clover, basswood has not yielded, and 

 there was no fall flow. A little sweet 

 clover gave scant summer feed, and as 

 a result there was little brood-rearing. 

 To add to our distress the winters have 

 been of a character conducive to de- 

 struction of bees. 



Were it not that all forms of life are 

 restricted by climatic changes, natural 

 enemies and disease, there would not 

 be room in the ocean for the fishes, in 

 the air for the insects, nor on land for 

 animal life. .Australia and California 

 are examples of countries over-run 

 with rabbits, and were conditions for 

 the increase of bees always favorable, 

 and food supply abundant, they would 

 soon be a nuisance. 



Changes of climate have much to do 

 with the reduction in number of some 

 forms of life, and certain conditions, 

 long continued, would wipe out some 

 forms of life entirely, just as the mam- 

 moth, probably was, in what is now 

 Siberia and .Alaska. That these gigan- 

 tic animals formerly existed tliere in 

 vast herds there is no doubt. During 

 certain of the geological periods mon- 

 strous animils lived, lizzards -iO to 7-5 

 feet in length, immense turtles and 

 sharks swam in the seas, and forms of 

 flying life undreamed of now. These 

 all perished owing to continued cli- 

 matic conditions to which they could 

 not adapt themselves, and new forms 

 took their place. 



In the tame way the bees might 

 easily become e.xtinct. We know they 

 do not exist in the treeless and clover- 

 less plains of the Dakotas, and if we 

 had a continuation of climatic condi- 

 tions such as have e.xisted here for 

 three years past, the number of colo- 

 nies of bees in the United States would 

 be sadly reduced, even if the bees were 

 not wiped out. 



Buck Grove, Iowa. 



Capping Melters— Handling 

 Cappings 



BY L. C. DADANT. 



SEVERAL LETTERS similar to the 

 following have been received : 

 " Deat Sir : — How do you get 

 the honey out of cappings, and 

 what use do you make of it ? What is 

 the latest and best method ? Have you 

 tried any of the contrivances for melt- 



ing them up direct from th e knife, and 

 what success have you had? I do not 

 see much said about it of late in the 

 bee journals." W. T. C.\RV. 



Wakenda, Mo. 



Various methods have been devised 

 to get the honey from cappings with 

 the least trouble. The most modern 

 of these is the capping melter which 

 melts the wax as fast as it falls from 

 the capping knife, and allows the honey 

 to separate from it at once. However, 

 there has been considerable objection 

 to this implement by some of the large 

 producers on account of the extra heat 

 produced, and the danger of scorching 

 or discoloring the honey. 



As uncapping is usually done during 

 the hot summer months, extra heat in 

 the honey-house is not desirable. 

 Bending over a gasoline stove, with a 

 steam-heated knife in your hand when 

 the thermometer outside stands any- 

 where from DO to 100 degrees, is not a 

 very enticing proposition forthe work- 

 man who does the uncapping. 



To get prompt action in melting 

 cappings, a temperature of over 1-50 

 degrees must be kept up in the cap- 

 ping melter, as beeswax will not melt 

 readily under that point. In extract- 

 ing white clover, or any white or mild- 

 flavored honey, there is considerable 

 danger of spoiling its color or its 

 flavor, or both. 



For the bee-keeper who has -'jO colo- 

 nies or less there is little doubt that 

 the regular capping can, called by 

 some "uncapping can," made and sold 

 by nearly all manufacturers of supplies, 

 and which was devised by Mr. C. P. 

 Dadant in the early days of the honey- 

 e.xtractor. is the best implement to use 

 in handling cappings. 



Even for the specialist who is run- 

 ning wholly for extracted honey, the 

 old reliable capping can does very well 

 if properly manipulated. Several of 

 our most extensive bee keepers still 

 use it in preference to the capping 

 melter after having given the latter a 

 thorough trial. 



In running several hundred colonies 

 of bees for extracted honey, it is our 

 practice to uncap into capping cans a 

 little larger than those sold on the 

 market. They are made large enough 

 so that two of them hold all the cap- 

 pings of a heavy day's work. .-Vs the 

 cappings are occasionally stirred, they 

 drain very readily, especially if the 

 weather is warm. 



When extracting several days in suc- 

 cession, we allow the cappings to drain 

 until morning, when they are trans- 

 ferred into larger tanks, made on the 

 same plan as the capping can, but of 

 three or four times its capacity. As 

 there is comparatively little honey left 

 in the cappings then, the tanks are 

 made with less room below and more 

 room above the screen than the regu- 

 lar capping cans. In these tanks the 

 cappings are allowed to drain until we 

 are ready to render them into bees- 

 wax. If the weather is warm, or if 

 these tanks are kept in a warm room it 

 is surprising how dry the cappings 

 become. 



The only time lost in these opera- 

 tions is that of transferring from the 

 capping can to the tank. \\'hile ex- 

 tracting, the honey need be drawn 



from the capping can but twice a day. 

 There is no bucket or tank to watch, 

 no fire going; in fact, all that the man 

 with the knife has to do is to skin his 

 combs and occasionally stir his cap- 

 pings. True, the cappings have to be 

 melted afterwards, but this job is done 

 at any time after the harvest is over, 

 when there is no apiary work. 



Rendering the cappings into bees- 

 wax is not diflncult. Should one wish 

 to make vinegar, the cappings are 

 washed in water just warm enough to 

 make them plastic, but not warn> 

 enough to melt them. In doing this a 

 considerable quantity of water should 

 be used, depending upon the amount 

 of honey left in the cappings. Thus 

 nothing whatever is lost, and the very 

 best vinegar is secured. 



If the bee keeper does not care to 

 go to this trouble, he can melt the 

 cappings with just enough water to 

 dissolve what honey settles to the bot- 

 tom when they are melted. This syrup, 

 after being thoroughly reduced, can be 

 saved for spring feeding. 



Hamilton, 111. 



[We give herewith some replies re- 

 ceived from prominent honey-pro- 

 ducers. In the West, where the heat is 

 less intense than in the Mississippi 

 valley, and where one never feels hot 

 in the shade, the heat of the capping 

 melter is not objectionable, and a num- 

 ber of apiarists make light of that fault, 

 which is to them unimportant. So it is 

 to a certain extent a question of loca- 

 tion : — Editor.] 



In reply to your enquiry as to how 

 we like tlie capping melter, will say our 

 objection to the heat is overcome by 

 the currents of air sent out by the 8- 

 frame power extractor near the melter. 

 To avoid scorching honey, we keep the 

 gate open so the honey and wax run 

 out as fast as melted. I don't tl.ink, in 

 our 4 years' experience with the cap- 

 ping melter, that we have scorched any 

 honey, though most of the honey from 

 the melter is colored a little and the 

 flavor is changed, yet we do not con- 

 sider such honey damaged ; therefore, 

 we pour it in a large tank with other 

 honey. We wouldn't like to go back 

 to the old capping can unless we have 

 some better device to melt cappings 

 than I have seen. 



At one time we depended upon a 

 solar extractor to melt cappings, and 

 on a cool, cloudy day we were troubled 

 with the cappings piling up in our way. 

 At last we had to build a fire to melt 

 them. But not so with the capping 

 melter. We want the water in the 

 melter boiling by the time we begin to 

 uncap, and we want it to boil lively all 

 the time we are uncapping. At the 

 close of the day's work we cover the 

 melter with a heavy cloth and let the 

 fire burn until the cappings are all 

 melted. But do not let the honey 

 from the slum-gum at the last mi.x with 

 other honey, as it is too dark. Let the 

 slum-gum cool in the melter. and re- 

 main until the melter begins to warm 

 up with the next fire, then the slum- 

 gum will not stick, and can be taken 

 out in a solid mass. 



Root's melter is too small in diame- 

 ter. We are having one made 20 inches 



