1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



299 



was several months ago. but we have heard 

 nothing of him so far. The only excuse I have 

 for this shipper is thai he, perhaps, had bought 

 the honey without having seen the contents of 

 the cases. 



You see, Bro. Root, this material loss is not 

 the only one sustained by the dealer. We were 

 deprived also of our usual trade of the season. 

 We might have disposed of four or five carloads 

 of honey since October had we not been deceiv- 

 ed by shipments the like of which we had never 

 bought: while now we must worry along, and 

 shall consign to the rendering-tank about half 

 a carload of comb honey, by the time that fly- 

 time arrives, and then dispose of it at about 

 half the price per pound we had paid for it. So, 

 let us do justice, even to a dealer. 



Cincinnati, O., April 4. 



^ I ^ 



"OIL-CAN FRAUDS" IN CALIFOKNIA. 



HOW TO BENDER SECOND-HAND SQUARE CANS, 



IN WHICH OIL HAS BEEN SHIPPED, FIT 



FOR HONEY. 



.By Oil Can. 



Mr. Editor:— Oa page 230 of Gleanings for 

 March 1.5 I find an item entitled '• Coal -oil Can 

 Frauds," copied from the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, which strikes me very forcibly, and so I 

 should like to ask a few questions for informa- 

 tion. 1. What do new cans cost in the East? 

 2. Is the American Bee Journal interested in a 

 can-factory? 3. Is not a good bright coal-oil 

 can as good as any if thoroughly cleaned and 

 deodorized? I think we must use coal-oil cans 

 in this part of California, as long as we can get 

 them, while new cans cost 29}4 cts. apiece. The 

 strongest argument in favor of new cans is that 

 they do not have to be cleaned. Some men are 

 slovenly about any thing they do, while others 

 don't care so long as they can get their goods 

 off their hands. This class should sufifer, and 

 not those who do their work thoroughly. In 

 this warm climate it is an easy matter to make 

 a coal -oil can as sweet as a rose. Perhaps you 

 will not believe this unless I give the recipe for 

 cleaning the can and removing the odor. It is 

 this: Keep the cans prepared some two or three 

 weeks ahead of the time they will be needed. 

 To clean, first take off the oil-faucet; punch a 

 small hole in one corner of the can; drain out 

 all the oil that will run; expose in the sun for 

 a few days the cans thus drained, then use hot 

 water and gold-dust washing-powder thorough- 

 ly. Follow this by rinsing till clean, and again 

 place in the hot sun. In a few days it will be 

 impossible to perceive the scent of oil in them. 

 Cans must be left open while taking their sun- 

 bath, and the open end up, to give the evapo- 

 rating water a chance to escape. 



We need some cheaper method than we now 

 have for putting up our extracted honey; but 



what shall it be? We have no honey-barrels on 

 this coast — not to my knowledge, at least; and 

 even if we had, they would not hold honey in 

 this climate. Will some brother bee-keeper 

 please arise and give us a few remarks " for the 

 good of the order " ? 

 Tulare, Cal. 



[Mr. York is in no way interested in the sale 

 of square cans; in fact, I do not believe he even 

 knows what the cans can be bought for. It is 

 true, we sell square cans; but the Californians 

 generally buy direct of the factory. I presume 

 his experience is a good deal like ours — that we 

 have run across a good many instances in our 

 correspondence where otherwise first-class Cali- 

 fornia honey has been ruined, simply because 

 the Coast bee-keepers put it into cans that had 

 been used for oil. In some instances they made 

 an efl'ort to clean the oil out ; but nevertheless 

 the honey was tainted. California honey has 

 been getting a bad reputation in some quarters, 

 just because of this carelessness (or perhaps we 

 might call it slipshodness) on the part of a few 

 who either ought to quit the business or else use 

 new cans, if they can not or will not succeed in 

 making their old coal oil cans clean and sweet. 



It is true, that second-hand oil cans may be 

 bought cheaply; but when we come to figure 

 the fuss of cleaning them up, and the risk of 

 not getting them clean, I am very much of the 

 opinion that they will not be found any cheap- 

 er than new cans, especially when bought in 

 car lots by bee-keepers clubbing together. But 

 now since the Exchange has come into exist- 

 ence, every member of i t can buy at carload rates. 



But there is one thing that you evidently do 

 not count on; and that is, that dealers here are 

 prejudiced against any California honey put up 

 in old oil-cans, or old cans of any sort. We will 

 suppose that they have been thoroughly clean- 

 ed, as you explain : but no amount of talk will 

 convince these dealers, or some of them at least, 

 that the honey is not affected. They regard 

 the old cans with suspicion. On the other hand, 

 if the bee-keeper will pay just a little more for 

 7iew cans, the dealer will be willing to give him 

 a good deal more for the honey there is in ihem. 



But I am glad to get your ideas as to how to 

 clean old cans ; and if bee-keepers must use 

 them — that is, can't get the new cans at the 

 right figures— let them use the old ones, but fol- 

 low implicitly your directions. I have no doubt 

 that you can make the cans clean and sweet; 

 but I am a little afraid that some bee-keepers 

 will make a bungle of it. Let a few cans of this 

 oily honey get in with a lot of good honey, and 

 the whole will be condemned. Dealers will, on 

 the slightest pretext, knock the price down, and 

 California bee keepers can not afford to take 

 any chances. — Ed.] 



J. W. E., S. C— It doesn't pay to keep bees in 

 a greenhouse, so far as the bees are concerned. 

 Years ago we tried the experiment most thor- 

 oughly. The bees learned after a fashion to go 

 back and forth to the hive, but many were lost 

 in bumping their heads against the glass, for 

 the conditions in a greenhouse are so unnatu- 

 ral. Bees are often kept in greenhouses for the 

 sake of fertilizing blossoms, and in this case 

 they prove of great val ue. The loss of bees is of 

 small importance compared with the proper 

 fertilization of blossoms, especially where valu- 

 able flowering pot-plants are grown. Where the 

 bees have all died olY. another colony is put in. 



