1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



doubt that a little non-reversing machine will 

 extract all the honey that most bee-keepers can 

 produce; but the fact should be borne in mind 

 that labor is an expensive item, and one may 

 lay out more money in handling a crop of honey, 

 iu a single season, with a small non-reversing 

 machine, than a large reversing extractor would 

 cost. It is not a question whether a small 

 machine will do the work, but it is a question 

 which machine will do it the cheapest, consid- 

 ering the first cost and interest on the money. 



Our extractors have of late been greatly im- 

 proved, and the honey-gate has been made 

 much more substantial: and we contemplate 

 making the gate proper of malleable iron. 



In regard to the Novice and Cowan, as the 

 latter costs but a trifle more, it would not |)ay a 

 bee-keeper who has a thousand pounds or more 

 to extract, to fuss with a non-reversing ma- 

 chine: and reports are coming in, showing that 

 the Cowan reversible does not throw a spray of 

 honey over the can. The reason for this is, that 

 there is no center-shaft nor bracework that' 

 forms a sort of propeller-wheel to make an up- 

 current on the inside of the can. Reversible 

 machines, besides being much more rapid, have 

 this as a distinctive feature, llead w hat Frank 

 McNay says on page 174 of our March 1st issue.] 



COLD-MADE GRANULATED SUGAR SYRUP. 



HOW TO MAKE A DESIKAliLK TABLE SYliUr: 

 AN IMPORTANT (^UERY ABOUT KAMBI.EE. 



In reply to the Stray Straw on page 1.5!i of 

 Gleanings, that those who have had experi- 

 ence with cold-made granulated sugar syrup 

 should report results. I will say we use it on the 

 table all the time. When properly flavored we 

 find it superior to any thing we can buy. If not 

 flavored it is tasteless — simply sweet, and we 

 soon get tired of it. About one-fourth common 

 brown sugar mixed witli the granulated will 

 flavor to suit some palates, and it gives a little 

 color. We like best to place in the oven of the 

 cook-stove a common tin pie-pan full of granu- 

 lated sugar: leave it until the sugar is melted, 

 and the resulting cake is a dark brown. Don't 

 stir it. This cake is broken into pieces when 

 cold, and mixed with the sugar as the percola- 

 tor is filled. The flavor isexcellent, resembling 

 maple, and the color is good, thus pleasing both 

 eye and palate. 



We u.se a common glass percolator which holds 

 about a gallon, and cost from ."lO cts. to $1.(K). 

 Any drugstore should be able to furnish them. 

 One with a faucet in the bottom is convenient: 

 but a cork answers very well. (}lass is best, as it 

 does not corrode, and you can see what you are 

 doing. Fasten it to the wall where it will be 

 out of the way, and the syrup-cup can be set un- 

 der it. A pi<'ce of perforated wood or metal cut 

 to fit the bottom, and covered with thin cloth, is 

 as good as or better than a sponge; fill it with 

 sugar and flavoring; add water until it stands 

 over the sugar; keep it so, refilling as it runs out; 

 let it drip in the syrup-cup as needed. From 7 

 to s lbs. of sugar will make a gallon of fine 

 heavy syrup costing from 35 to 4() cts., which, be- 

 ing pure cane sugar, will, after the novelty has 

 worn off', go further than the best you can buy 

 at from .")() to so cts., none, or very little of the 

 latter being pure. Besides being pure, it is clean, 

 no dirt being able to pass the filter in the bot- 

 tom. 



About this time Dr. Milh^r is saying, " What 

 has all this to do with my query about the crys- 

 tallization or non-crystallization of cold-made 

 granulated syrup?" Nothing, my dear doctor; 

 nothing at all. So far this is how to make the 

 b<'St table syrup you ever tasted, almost with- 



out trouble, and very economically. Will it crys- 

 tallize? No, it won't if you let it drip into^your 

 syrup-cup as needed, and keep the latter closed 

 when not in use; but it will if you leave it ex- 

 posed to a warm dry air. Why? Because 

 the cold water just saturates it as it passes 

 through the percolator. It should pass through 

 slowly to do so, and will retain indefinitely all 

 the sugar it holds in solution, if not allowed to 

 evaporate. If allowed to evaporate, the excess 

 of sugar thus left behind will be deposited in 

 crystals on the bottom and sides of the vessel. 

 If fed to bees it should be largely diluted with 

 water, both for the convenience of the bees in 

 handling, and because, if the excess of water 

 should be evaporated in the hive, it would crys- 

 tallize, unless it is changed into honey by the se- 

 cretions of the bees, as some claim. Hot water 

 will dissolve much more sugar than cold. When 

 syrup is made in the usual way by boiling, and 

 enough sugar is added, or the syrup cooks 

 down enough, more sugar is dissolved than can 

 be held in solution when it becomes cold; the 

 excess is deposited in crystals, which fill up the 

 vessel holding it. and, with the disagreeable 

 mess of making it, renders the whole business a 

 nuisance as usually made. 



Rig up a percolator, doctor; it is not often you 

 can benefit your pocketbook and please your 

 women-folks at the same time. 



Say, what's the matter with Rambler, page 

 '.10? ■■ He's all right," you say. Not a bit of it; he 

 has something worse than the '•scratches;"he's 

 got two left feet and nary a right one. I say, 

 you all let Rambler alone; you ought to be 

 ashamed. I've heard of worrying a man until he 

 did not know his head from his heels; but it is 

 evident you have bothered the poor fellow until 

 he is all left legs and no right ones. Don't see 

 how he climbs those mountains in that shape. 



Berlin. Mo.. March 8. Geo. R. Wei.ler. 



SELF-HIVERS AND THE DRONE AND QUEEN 

 TRAP. 



the uses to which the trap may be put. 



I believe some of the self-hivers are used, not 

 to increase the apiary, but merely to detnin the 

 queen and bees, and have as little interruption 

 of work in the supers as possible. Now, if this 

 is the principal object and use for a self-hiver. I 

 see no good reason for using a swarmer of any 

 kind, and I am of the opinion that the drone 

 and queen trap can be used to much better ad- 

 vantage than any self-hiving arrangement. 

 R. L. Taylor has used them in accordance with 

 this theory, and recommends them as the best 

 automatic hiver in use. 



Those bee-keepers who do not desire swarms or 

 increase in any way should use the trap. If a 

 swarm issues while the trap is on the hive, the 

 queen will surely be found in the trap, and the 

 bees will return and commence work as though 

 nothing unusual had happened. Thequeen will 

 be all right if l(»ft in the trap several days— in 

 fact, she can be left there until the seventh day 

 after the swarm issued, and then re-introduced 

 to the same colony she came from, .lust here I 

 will give a point that will enable almost any 

 bee-keeper to prevent more swarms issuing from 

 the same hive in the same season. 



Allow the qui'en to remain in the trap three 

 days after the swarm comes oft'. Then re- intro- 

 duce her (any other will do) to the colony. If 

 the queen is introduced as here advised, it will 

 not b(( necessary to open the hive and destroy 

 the ([ueen-cells, as theciueen introduced will at- 

 tend to that matt(!r as soon as she gets posses- 

 sion of thecoml)s. There will be nomoreswarms 

 from that hive that season. If the queen is 



