334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



what names he included. In addition to the 

 II limes that you have given, I have on my tally 

 \V. R. Graham and Eugene Secor. Perhaps 

 you did not consider Graham a wide-framer, 

 but I did and do now; and Secor is a wide- 

 frame man if he is any thing; and yet I can see 

 how you can claim him for T supers. 1 can 

 explain the apparent difference of count only 

 on the supposition that your eyes were trying 

 to see T-super votes, and that my eyes were 

 equally eager to see wide-frame and section- 

 holder votes. Wide frames and section holders 

 are practically the same thing, but in my tally 

 I took account of wide frames pure and simple. 

 —Ed.] 



VINAL'S OVEN FOR LIQUEFYING HONEY. 



By Geo. L. Vwal. 



Most of the honey-producers who peddle 

 honey in jars or pails find that most people 

 think granulated honey is mixed with some- 

 thing. At the low price of honey, we have to 

 do as little handling as possible. In drawing 

 honey from the extractor into jars or pails it 

 will candy, and it is sometimes more convenient 

 to label jars and pails before they are filled. 

 Now, in liquefying it in water we loosen the 

 labels and have to replace them. In order to 

 avoid this trouble I had an oven made of gal- 

 vanized iron, that works well with me in melt- 

 ing honey, either in glass jars, pails, 60-lb. cans, 

 or bulk. 



It is made 4>^ feet high. 21 inches wide inside. 

 It will hold six 60-lb. cans, besides about 200 

 pint Mason jars, at one time. It will burn 

 either coal, coke, or wood. I prefer coal, as it 

 gives a more even heat. I can regulate the 

 temperature to any degree I wish. 



It takes from six to eight hours to liquefy a 

 60-lb. can of solid honey, at a temperature of 

 from 135 to 140°; pint and quart jars, from one 

 to two hours, or longer, according to the heat. 



I will try to describe the oven. It is 21 inches 

 wide by 21 deep, and 4}^ feet high. One side is 

 a door that closes tight against a flange. It 

 has a ventilator on each side near the top. 

 The fire-box is one foot wide, 18 inches long, 

 and six inches deep, made of heavy sheet iron. 



The grate is made of tire iron, Jg" thick by % 

 wide, riveted together by three cross-pieces of 

 the same. The fire-box is connected by a fun- 

 nel that runs up behind and comes out through 

 the top of the oven, and acts as a chimney. If 

 you use it in a room without a chimney in it 

 you can lead it through a window, or use it in 

 a shed, or out of doors, if you like. Shelves 

 placed on brackets are arranged so you can 

 take them out as you like. Mine cost me about 

 $6.50. I would not sell it for twice that amount. 

 There is a tank that goes inside in which I 

 melt honey in bulk. This has a faucet leading 

 through one side of the oven. It holds about 

 3.50 lbs. of honey. As it melts I draw off and 

 put in more from the barrel. It comes handy 

 for several things. I evaporate about fifty gal- 

 lons of maple sap to as fine syrup as one ever 

 saw, and no danger of scorching or burning. 

 You can bake beans, bread, puddings, pies, 

 melt wax, and in the summer time not heat up 

 the house. 



I think it would pay any one to have one of 

 these ovens if he has much honey to melt. My 

 reasons are these: 



1. You can set it up in a shed, or out of doors. 



2. After the fire is built, it takes very little 

 fuel and care to keep it going. 



3. You can leave it and not be afraid of burn- 

 ing the honey. 



4. You are not fooling around with water to 

 spill and slop, and soak off labels. 



5. It can be used for several things, and it 

 will not cost much more than a boiler. 



I do not make them nor have them for sale. 

 I give my experience to the bee-keepers for 

 what it is worth. 



Charlton, Mass. 



HOW TO GET GOOD PRICES. 



-SELLING HONEY IN GKOCEKIES; HOW TO MAKE 

 IT SELL. 



Bu S. C. Convin. 

 In the summer of JS85 I got my first crop of 

 honey in Florida, being nearly 1000 lbs. in 43^ x 

 4I4' sections. I took seven 48 lb. cases (these 

 cases were made by A. I. Root, and were glassed 

 on both ^ides), and one case holding a single 

 double tit-r of eight sections. This case being 

 glassed both sidt-s, and comb very white, it was 

 remarkably pretty. Tliis was my sample case 

 to sell by. I took this honey to Tampa, calling 

 on the leading merchants, trying to sell. All 

 exclaimed, "How fine!" Honey in this style 

 was new in Tampa; but all told me, " We can't 

 sell it at your price. 12)^ cents per section. We 

 can get all the broken comb honey in cans we 

 can sell, for 6 cts. per lb." I felt quite blue, for 

 I expected to make the honey business my sup- 

 port. I at last decided to take my sample case, 

 which I had kept wrapped up while on the 

 streets, in my hand unwrapped, and walk the 

 streets, feeling that it would attract attention, 

 it being a new article in this city. 



