168 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 1. 



up to the last line, that he was going to tell us 

 how to make that candy, we were— well. " mad" 

 because he didn't. We had about given up all 

 hopes of ever knowing, when along came a let- 

 ter from a member of Dr. Miller's family, that 

 gives us just the information desired.] 



Mr. Root:— 



Dr. Miller insists that I must give j'ou the his- 

 tory of the sample of bee-candy he sent you. 

 He says ifs one of the things he " don't know." 

 T can tell you all I know, but am not at all sure 

 that I can give entire satisfaction. Not long 

 ago he was looking for something, I don't re- 

 member what, and was rummaging through 

 the kitchen cupboard. If there is any one thing 

 for which Dr. Miller has decidedly not a talent, 

 it is finding things. He will look in the most 

 unlikely places, and, after becoming discourag- 

 ed, will appeal to one of the female members of 

 the household, who, likely as not, will readily 

 find the article in some place where he has 

 stoutly insisted there's no use in looking, as 

 he has searched the same place " most thor- 

 oughly." 



On this particular occasion he reached down 

 a dish from one of the upper shelves, and said, 

 " Say, Em. what's this ? " 



I told him it was a dish of frosting that was 

 spoiled in making, and had stood there about a 

 year. 



Instead of putting it back where he got it, 

 and attending to his own affairs, as every prop- 

 erly trained man ought to do. he seemed to be 

 particularly interested in it, and began poking 

 his fingers into it, feeling it and tasiing it. 

 Then he asked me all sortsof questions about it, 

 and ended up by asking me where he could 

 find a little tin box in which to send a sample 

 to Medina. I tiicil to dissuade him from it, 

 thinking it not worth while, and telling him I 

 didn't, care to have samples of my failures in 

 cookery distiibuted bioadcast. Bnt. as is usu- 

 ally the case when he gets a kink in his head, 

 he would not listen to reason, so you got the 

 ample. 



It was made in this way: One cup of granu- 

 lated sngar. a very small pinch of cream of tar- 

 tar, and enough water to dissolve the sugar: 

 put on the stove, and boiled until, by trying a 

 little of the syrup by pinching it, it would 

 string from one finger to the other, when it is 

 ready to take fi'om the tire. Turn into a dish 

 and stir or rub it with a spoon against the side 

 of the dish uutil it " creams." (You understand 

 the syrup is clear in the first place, and it may 

 be said to •' cream " when it assumes an opaque 

 or milky appearance.) Then add the white of 

 one egg beaten stiff, a little at a time; beat the 

 egg in thoroughly, and it is ready for use. 



The frosting in question didn't look quite 

 right. I was afraid I had not boiled it quite 

 long enough; and as I was particularly anxious 

 to have luy cake very nice I concluded not to 

 use it, but set it to one side, intending to feed it 

 to the bees at the proper time, and at the prop- 

 er time forgot all about it, and that accounts 

 for its standing there so long. Had it worked 

 all right it would have hardened in about an 

 hour. Now I have told you all I know about 

 t. 



It still stands in the dish into which I turned 

 it — a soup-plate. There is a thin layerof syrup 

 at the bottom: above that, the frosting or can- 

 dy, or whatever you call it, is about three- 

 fourths of an inch deep, and of a uniform con- 

 sistency throughout, the same as the sample 

 sent you. 



Whether I could'^ever make any exactly like 

 it again. I do not know. Whether the exact de- 

 gree of boiling it had is important, I don't 

 know. The addition of the egg may be of some 



importance. Sugar syrup properly creamed 

 will stay soft for some time; and when it does 

 harden it can be readily softened by the addi- 

 tion of a few drops of water. 



Chocolate creams, with the exception of the 

 outside coating, will remain soft for a long 

 time. As usually made, they are simply the 

 white of an egg beaten stiff with enough con- 

 fectioner's sugar kneaded in to make it handle 

 well. I make them by boiling confectioner's 

 sugar and creaming, then adding a tablespoon 

 of thick sweet cream, without any egg. I think 

 they are much improved when made in this 

 way. I feel pretty sure that gliicose is used in 

 their manufacture in the commercial article. 



I don't know, but I imagine bee-candy might 

 be made by boiling sugar and creaming it, then 

 adding the egg and a very little honev. I mean 

 to experiment a little, anyhow. 



Emma Wilson. 



[If we were " mad " at the doctor we entirely 

 forgive him now for being able to recognize a 

 good thing when he saw it. There are just 

 few people in this world who knoiv when they 

 have a good thing. How often it happens that 

 valuable information and discoveries come 

 about by mere accident! Wliether this " find " 

 of the doctor's will prove a valuable one or not. 

 remains to be seen; at all events, we hope that 

 now, as the secret is out, many of the friends 

 will put the matter to test; for if such candy can 

 be made, and kept, it is going to prove to be a 

 valnabh' acijuisition. It seems, from the recipe 

 for making, that the egg is that which keeps 

 the candy soft. A small quantity of it certainly 

 would not be hurtftil to the bees, and possibly 

 it might add much to the value of the food. 



Miss Wilson alludes to cream chocolates. 

 There, now. why didn't .somebody think of that 

 before? They can be purchased at almost any 

 grocery, and, so far as we can rem(Mrfber, they 

 are soft and moist, and would be the thing for 

 queen-cages. Oneof these will just about till the 

 candy -hole of a cage; and by slicing off the 

 end. the bees would have the nici^st kind of 

 prepaied food — that is, providing glucose is 

 kept out of it. We shall certainly try it at our 

 earliest opportunity. How many times it hap- 

 pens that bee-keepers who are not actual 

 queen-breeders, but who. for some reason or 

 other, desire to send a queen to a friend, have 

 not any suitable bee-candy! but now they can 

 go right to their grocery and buy a few choco- 

 late creams. Several good recipes for making 

 chocolate candy out of pure materials will now 

 now be in order.] 



EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF THE LAST 

 CONVENTION OF THE GERMAN, AUSTRI- 

 AN, AND HUNGARIAN BEE-KEEPERS. 



THE DZIERRON THEORY QUESTIONED. 



I inclose you an extract from the report of 

 the annual convention of the German, Austrian, 

 and Hungarian bee-keepers, which appeared 

 in the Bienen Zeltung in full. If you deem it 

 of interest to your readers you are at liberty to 

 make use of it or any part of it in Gi>eanings. 

 I have tried to select the best, and I shortened 

 and condensed most of it considerably. 



Na ples, N. Y., Feb. 3. Fr. Greiner. 



""The 37th annual convention of the German, Au.s- 

 tiian. and Hungarian bee-keepers met in Budapest, 

 from the 12th to the 15th of September, 1893. Buda- 

 pest is situated on the Danulje, in Hung-ary, andis 

 centrally located as regards the Austrian empire. 



About 250 bee-keepers took part in the proceed- 

 ings. Among the many was Dr. Dzierzon, now in 

 his 83d year, the Hungarian bee-keepers honoring 



