August, igoS. 



American Hee Journal 



Caution in the Heating of Extracting- 

 Combs 



There is much to commend the plan 

 of waiting till the close of the season to 

 extract, then heating the honey in a 

 dosed room till it is as warm and limpid 

 ;is when taken fresh from the hive on a 

 hot day. But there is a danger tliat one 

 might not suspect in advance : — the dan- 

 ger of heating the combs in the upper 

 I)art of the room to such an extent that 

 they may drop out of the frame;. It 

 seems tliat time is an important factor 

 in the operation, plenty of time being 

 needed to warm a solid coinb entirely 

 tiirough without raising the lieat to such 

 a point as to melt tlie comb. Allen 

 Latliain has rendered bee-keepers a 

 service by relating his own mishap, in 

 the Bee-Keepers' Review, as follows: 



"Your scheme of extracting honey, 

 wlien convenient, by heating it artificially, 

 is good ; of course it is, but there is dan- 

 ger. It might be well for you to call the 

 attention of your readers to the danger 

 of overheating. If the heat is allowed 

 to run too high there may be serious 



"Last fall I had a lot of combs of 

 dark honey, more than I would need for 

 spring feeding, and I thought I would 

 extract a few hundred pounds. I had 

 .the honey stacked in an old hen-house, 

 paroid covered. I started the lamp on 

 I'riday morning and ran it slowly that 

 day. Through Friday night I ran it 

 faster for the night was cold, the time 

 being late in November. Saturday morn- 

 ing the honey was almost fit for ex- 

 traction and I thought it well to hurry 

 tlie heat a little and get to extracting 

 about noon. The place did not feel warm 

 and so I set both burners to going and 

 left them, as I went to the city on some 

 errands. I w-as gone longer than I 

 thought, and the sun came out rather 

 warm in the meantime. Upon my re- 

 turn I opened the henhouse door upon a 

 sad sight. All the top supers had melted 

 down atid the honey was drizzling all 

 over the supers in the place. I had 

 some sixty combs melt down and lost 

 one hundred to two hundred pounds of 

 lioney all told. It was an awful mess, 

 and don't you forget it. 



"I shall be careful hereafter. I should 

 liave known better : but I had under- 

 estimated the heating capacity of my 

 heater, especially when it was coupled 

 with sunshine. I had over-estimated the 

 heat-absorption power of the honey and 

 contents of the house. Even as it was, 

 tlie lower tiers had not becoirie near 

 warm enough to extract. 



" Heating honey is something like melt- 

 ing up wax — it is well to keep on tlie 

 M'ot." ^^^ 



Becoming Immune to Stings 



riiere arc persons so seriously affected 

 li> bee-stings that it is a serious ques- 

 tion wltether they should make any at- 

 tempt to keep bees. One of this class, 

 1,. R. Penficid, applied to Dr. Miller for 

 .iilvicc, and received the following re- 

 ply in Gleanings : 



"Hard to advise. If for the money 

 alone, don't think of touching bees. If 

 you like them so nuicli tliat it's hard to 

 let them alone, try it in conditions that 

 will allow you to give them up any day 

 witji little loss. Avoid many stings at 



I first by means of veil, gloves, and gen- 

 tle bees, and it may be that, after a 

 I few stings, the effect will become less. 

 If not, quit." 



More to the point is a foot-note by 

 Editor Root, as follows : 



Mr. Penfield can overcome his diffi- 

 culty easily if he will submit to a process 

 of immunizing, such as we explained 

 some time ago. Let him take a bee up 

 by the wings, or get some one to do it 

 for him ; cause the bee barely to prick 

 the skin of the hand or arm with its 

 sting, then instantly brush it off. This 

 should be done very quickly, so as not 

 to get much of the poison into the 

 wound. If no serious effect follows it 

 may be repeated in about a week's time. 

 After a month or two the dose may 

 be repeated a little oftener, say once in 

 three days : but in each case care should 

 be taken to get the smallest quantity 

 of the poison through the skin. If this 

 be repeated at intervals for a period 

 of six months, the system will become 

 gradually immunized to the effects of 

 the poison, just as it does to other 

 poisons ; and in the same way increasing 

 doses may be taken, and oftener. We 

 had one case exactly similar to that of 

 Mr. Penfield, in which the party can 

 •now- go among the bees, and can be 

 stung ten or a dozen times without any 

 bad effects. 



"One thing Mr. Penfield can not do ; 

 and that is, to take the whole of the 

 effects of a sting. If it be left in the 

 wound, and the entire contents of the 

 poison-bag are injected into the flesh be 

 will, of course, experience just the ef- 

 fects described; but if he presses the 

 bee just hard enough against the flesh 

 so that it barely pricks the skin, and no 

 more, and immediately brushes it off, be- 

 ing sure not to press the poison-sac, the 

 effect will not be serious ; in fact, he 

 may not notice it at all" 



TORSALE 



Bee-Keepers' Supply Manfactory for sale. 

 One chance in a lifetime. I wish to retire 

 and will sell my machinery and trade at half 

 price. My machinery will make nice sec- 

 tions, and at a much less expense than any 

 other manufactory in the world, as these 

 machines will cut twice as fast as any other. 

 I have a trade in most of the States. Am 

 located in a lumber State. Write at once 

 and find out about it if vou want the oppor- 

 tunity. Also will sell 100 colonies of bees at 

 half-price. This is business. 

 W.H.NORTON, Skowhegan. Maine 



Mention Doe Jnurnnl Trhen wrltlnff. 



THE JOURNAL OF 

 ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



Has the latest rtiiort of all the best work in 

 practical entomoloiiy. Articles upon apicul- 

 ture by national authorities appear in it. If 

 you wish the best entomoloerical journal for 

 the practical nian.subscribe for it. $2 a vear. 

 K. DWI<;HT.S.\NI)I-;KS«>N, RiisinessMKr.. 

 in UH..\M. N. H. 



FOR SALE 



3,S colonics of Italian bees in lO-frame 

 l>ant:stroth hives. Bees are healthy and 

 everythine is in e<iod order. Price and 

 special description upon application. Write 

 at once. Vou can have them che.-tp. 



JOEHANKE, PortWashington.Wis. 



BleDtlon Dee Journnl vThrn vrrlllnff. 



Sent On Approval 



To Responsible People 



L^augKlin 



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Souvenir Bee Postal Cards 



We have gotten up 4 Souvenir Postal 

 Cards of interest to bee-keepers. No. i 

 is a Teddy Bear card, with a stanza of 

 rhyme, a straw bee-hive, a jar and sec- 

 tion of honey, etc. It is quite senti- 

 mental. No. 2 has the words and mu- 

 sic of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lul- 

 laby;" No. 3, the words and music of 

 "Bucl:wheat Cakes and Honey ;" and No. 

 4, the words and music of "The Hum- 

 ming of the Bees." We send these cards, 

 postpaid, as follows : 4 cards for 10 

 cents, 10 cards for 20 cents ; or 6 cards 

 with the American Bee Journal one year 

 for 50 cents. Send all orders to the of- 

 fice of the American Bee Journal, 118 

 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, III. 



^ O ever k^ep Hope, for in this is 

 strength, and he who possess- 

 eth it can worr}) through typhoid. 

 - Rudyard Kipling. 



