920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1.5. 



we askfd you, since we had helped you in 

 the matter of measurements, to favor us with 

 an article on the tliickuess of the bases, or 

 septa, of foundations. You have kindly com- 

 plied, and the article appears right after 

 •• Straws." In savinjj this we have not tried to 

 defend Mr. Hutchinson or Mr. Taylor, for thf^y 

 are able to defend themselves, but to give the 

 matter as we see it.] 



SCRAPS. 



bee-escapes; practicai, suggestions. 



Last season I used Porter bee-escapes, putting 

 them on in the evening and taking oif the hon- 

 ey in the morning. It worked nicely. This 

 season I tried smoke, but my bees got cross. 

 There were always a few drops of honey spilled. 

 This started the robbers, who took advHUtage 

 of the smoke-subdued bees, and I lost 2'^ stands 

 by robbing. I shall use escapes altogether 

 next season. 



CANDIED COMB HONEY. 



When the honey-iiow is irregular the unfin- 

 ished uncapped cells granulate before the flow- 

 starts again, or they are evaporated to such an 

 extent that they candy after being capped. 



COMB OK EXTRACTED? 



When the season is good, there is but little 

 difference with me. This season the weather 

 "blew hot and cold;" in consequence, the 

 extracting-hives averaged 200 lbs., while the 

 comb-hives gave but .50 lbs. It is a good plan 

 to work for both, and thus be sure of a fair crop. 



APIARIAN TOOL. 



The handiest thing about my apiary is a large 

 pruning-knife with the blade set solid in the 

 handle. I make the blade out of a flat eight- 



inch file, and temper so" that I can pry up a 

 frame, separate sections, scrape off propolis, 

 loosen a lid, or take off the side of a hive, with- 

 out breaking the blade. The curved point 

 gives a purchase equal to a bar. 



CLEANING SECTIONS. 



To clean the edges, grind off the half of a }4- 

 inch chisel so that the long point will act as a 

 guide. This shaves off the soiled wood, and 



leaves a clean new sui'face. Or, make it a 

 scraper by turning the edge of a steel blade 

 backward,* and having a guide to keep the 



scraper from cutting the caps along the edge. 

 To clean the flat sides, glass is frequently used; 

 but it is dangerous, as the broken glass fre- 

 quently gets into the comb, and might be swal- 

 lowed by children, and cause death. The cab- 

 inet-makers use a steel scraper that can be 

 bought in any hardware store for 10 cts., and 



there is nothing better. In the absence of a 

 hardware store, cut a piece of steel out of an 

 old saw-blade. File the edges squaie acro.ss, 

 and then, with the back of an old razor, rub 

 back and forth over each edge, cradually turn- 

 ing the edges out and down. The razor should 

 have its sharp edge ground dull, and be set 

 solid in a handle. 



GLUCOSE. 



A wholesale grocer oflfered me 8 cts. per lb. 

 for my crop of extracted honey, and explained 

 that he could sell it at 6 cts. at a good profit, 

 by adding 3 lbs. of glucose to each pound of 

 honey, and stated. " My wife brought home a 

 jar with a piece of c(/mb honey in it. and the 

 jar filled up with what looked like verv nice 

 honey. She put it on the table, but I tell you 

 it was simply abominable— nothing but a piece 

 of comb honey and glucose. The grocery stores 

 of San Francisco are full of it, but it won't sell, 

 as the people have tumbled to it." 



WAX-EXTRACTOR. 



To get bottom 

 as well as top 

 heat from the 

 sun. I make my 

 wax- ex tr ac tor 

 with two glass. 

 A is glass; B, 

 c o m b - b o X ; C, 

 w a X - b o X ; T). 

 glass; E. this 

 face is painted 

 black; F, which 

 is the back, is 

 straight. As the 

 wax melts, it 

 drops on to E, 

 which is always 

 hot. F, being 

 perpendicular, is 

 not touched by 

 the wax; the 

 heat from the 

 glass D keeps 

 the box C and 

 the bo t im of 

 the box 15 very 

 hot. and does 

 away with the need of a lamp, which is unsafe 

 and expensive. If I had the past season to 

 work over, I would run entirely for extracted 

 honey, and " run " it on different lines; but the 

 bees can't gather honey from flowers that are 

 past, and I shall have to wait until another 

 season to profit by the experience of the past. 

 Murphys, Cal., Oct. 20. E. H. Sciiaeffle. 



[Your scraper-knives are good, and no doubt 

 will be found to be very serviceable. Your idea 

 of having two glass — one to heat the lop of the 

 wax and another to lieat the bottom — is also 

 good. Come again, friend S.. with some of your 

 new kinks. 1 



SCRAPING SECTIONS. 



A HANDY SCR A PING -TABLE. 



Inclosed I send a pencil-sketch of the appara- 

 tus on which I scrape my honey-sections, filled 

 and unfinished. The illustraticui. I think, will 

 make all plain. When the shelf is adjusted, 

 the height should be such as to have tln^ shelf 

 just over your lap. This leaves your arms and 

 hands in an easy position to work when you sit 

 down to the table. The screen bridge being in 

 place on the shelf, as seen in the illustration, 

 and your sections being in easy reach, you are 

 ready to proceed. 



Tlie scraping-knife illustrated is a common 



