753 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



rape, to a plain of white clover, and in the be- 

 ginning of August all of tnem to the Erica vul- 

 garis, so that my bees at the close of the sea- 

 son have gathered honey on four places. Thus 

 my migratory system has helped me so that I 

 have not had any bad honey season in several 

 years. 

 Wilsnack, Germany. 



SQUARE CANS-THE RELATIVE COST OF NEW 

 AND OLD. 



DISTir.LED WATER. 



We should purify the water we use, outside 

 not inside the body. Here is a description of 

 my " distillery," which has been in use for 

 nearly 23 years on our stove. Our spring comes 

 out of a limestone ledge, and the water con- 

 tains a saturated solution, or all that it can 

 hold, of carbonate of lime; and so much collects 

 in the kettle that it needs cleaning verv often, 

 and the whole apparatus had to be made so it 

 could be easily taken apart. 



A SIMPLE HOMEMADE APPAR VTUS FOR DIS- 

 TIL1>TNG WATER FOR DRINKING PURPOSES. 



By S. S. Butler, M. D. 



Mr. Root;— Some time ago I wrote you an 

 article about cleaning empty oil -cans, and 

 also about pure drinking-water. I do not take 

 back one word that I said about cleaning well, 

 free from rust, empty oil-cans for putting 

 honey in. They are just as good as perfectly 

 new cans, when cleaned, not partly cleaned, 

 which can be perfectly done with unslacked 

 lime in the way I spoke of in my article, Oct. 15, 

 1895. Here are a few figures: 



In San Francisco, 2d and 3d quality of honey 

 is quoted at from 2 to 3 cts. per lb. 



120 lbs., at 2M *3 no 



2 new cans and case '7^ 



12 25 

 After one has paid freight, drayage, and com- 

 mission, how much would he have for his work ? 

 My cans cost 8 cts. each. 



2 cans at 8 * 16 



Case ^ 



Material for cleaning, 1 ct. each. 2 



The cost of a case, $ 23 



This is a clear 50 cts. saved on each case; and, 

 Skylark to the contrary, the honey will bring 

 just as much in my well-cleaned oil-cans as in 

 new ones. 



MARKETING HONEY. 



Years ago I made up my mind that the best 

 package to put extracted honey in was the 

 Mason quart jar. As they represent so much 

 cash, if one does not want to put up fruit or 

 jelly in them they are always worth so much 

 money. When I commenced producing e.Ktract- 

 ed honey here in 1876 I got 12 to 15 cts. per lb. 

 for it. The price gradually decreased until, 

 when the hard times of 1893 struck us, I found 

 that, if I wanted to sell my honey, 1st or 2d 

 grade, I had to put the orice so that it was not 

 a luxury, but necessary— so low that it was 

 nearly the price of syrup; so that now I keep 

 in all the groceries of this place of 2000 inhab- 

 itants quart Mason jars of 2d grade, with a 

 neat label on, which they retail at 30 cts.: and 

 I let the stores have them for 18 cts., and take 

 it in trade. I know that I do not buy any thing 

 these hard times unless Ineed it and itis cheap, 

 so it is with others. We must reduce the price 

 or keep our honey. 



The apparatus consists of an iron kettle, not 

 pot, with sides straight at a certain angle; a 

 seamless tin pail, a little more flaring, of such 

 size that it will sit about 3 inches in the kettle, 

 and fit snug all around, so the steam does not 

 escape. I next found a round earthen dishi 

 with scolloped edg<^s. a little smaller than the 

 middle of the kettle, which rests on a tin can. 

 We put water into the kettle up to the bottom 

 of the dish, which holds more than the dish 

 will hold (when it has steamed up against the 

 pail with cold water in it). Into this the water 

 drops from the condensed steam. 



As I said in my other article, I am satisfied 

 that pure water is one of the hardest things to 

 find in this world. When converted into steam, 

 and that condensed, we have pure water. With 

 my apparatus, whenever we have a fire it is 

 collecting pure water for us, which we dip into 

 a gallon jar. 



Los Gatos, Cal., Aug. 8. 



BAKED APPLES AND HONEY. 



Here is a recipe my wife gives to the lady 

 readers of Gleanings: Take ripe apples of uni- 

 form size, and with a knife remove the core by 

 boring in at one end, but do not run the knife 

 clear through. Place them in a baking-dish 

 and put into each apple a teaspoonful each of 

 honey and butter, and bake in a moderate oven. 

 I thought they were the finest thing I ever ate. 



Carpenter, 111. Edw. Smith. 



