186 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. lo 



BEES KEPT IN A HEN-HOUSE WITH HOLES SAWED FOR THE HIVE-ENTRaNCES. 



should be placed over the opening, and the 

 lid crowded down tightly to make a snug 

 fit. A round disc of pasteboard inside the 

 screw-cap on a can makes every thing 

 steam-tight when the cap is turned down 

 with the fingers. 



THE CAPPING-MELTERS. 



Mr. Hutchinson found that the large 

 Beuhne capping-melter did satisfactory work 

 when he removed the inner separator and 

 allowed the honey and wax to run out away 

 from the heat as quickly as possible. When- 

 ever the inner separator was used, the hon- 

 ey was spoiled because of the long- continued 

 heat; but when the hnney was gotten away 

 from the heat immediately, the flavor and 

 color were not injured. Mr. Hutchinson did 

 not find the Root capping-melter satisfactory, 

 for the reason that it did not have enough 

 capacity for the rate at which he was ex- 

 tracting. The one- burner Root-melter, as 

 has been described in these columns, is not 

 intended for the largest apiaries, where 

 from two to five thousand pounds of honey 

 is extracted per day. At this rate a larger 

 melter must be used, and there must be two 

 burners to furnish enough heating surface 

 to get rid of the cappings as fast as they are 

 removed from the combs. An improved 

 strainer is now used on the Root melter, 

 which greatly increases its capacity, but, at 

 the same t.me, a much larger size is needed 

 for the largest apiaries. 



There is one point that ought to be men- 

 tioned in connection with capping-melters; 

 and that is, that, if the honey and wax are 

 not separated while hot in some such ar- 

 rangement as the Aikin separator, which has 

 been described before, the honey, if allowed 



to cool under the layer of wax on top, takes 

 on, in some way or other, a waxy flavor 

 which is not noticeable if the wax cools by 

 itself. We can not explain this; but we be- 

 lieve it to be a fact, since others besides our- 

 selves have noticed it. For the best results, 

 therefore, a separator should be used. 



BEES AND CHICKENS IN THE SAME 

 BUILDING. 



BY W. T. BAILEY. 



I started in the bee business with four col- 

 onies in the fall of 1908. Not knowing any 

 thingaboutit I putthehivesin the hen-house 

 and sawed holes for the old-fashioned en- 

 trances to stick through. 



I was so much interested in bee culture 

 that 1 talked bees to every one I met, and 

 one gentleman loaned me a very old and 

 well-worn copy of a bee-book which proved 

 to be the A B C of Bee Culture, by A. 1. Root. 

 This book made me a winner, and I have 

 since felt very friendly to bee people, and 

 especially to Mr. Root, and my gratitude goes 

 out to him. From the four old colonies and 

 two new ones last summer I secured about 

 150 lbs of comb honey, which was sold at a 

 good price. I now have ten colonies; am 

 Italianizing, and expect to glut the market 

 next year. 



Suffolk, Va., has 10,000 people, two miles 

 west of the Great Dismal Swamp, and is the 

 biggest peanut center in the world. 



•Suffolk, Va. 



