248 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Apr. 



on top of pacb, then take each in turn and press in 

 the cork with the hand. A small lever-press can 

 easily be made for this purpose, if it is found too 

 severe on the hands. 



Tinfoijintr is next in order. Cut the foil in square 

 pieces, so it will project beyond the bottle an inch 

 on each side. Place the forefinger of the rip'ht 

 hand on top of the tinfoil and bottle, to hold in 

 place; with the left hand bring the two corners 

 down so as to lap the necli of the bottle, and press 

 the other, portion down smoothly over it. The tin- 

 foil can he easily pres'^ed into position with the 

 hands, and more dextrously and neatly than with 

 any machinery. If you wish to make it very se- 

 cure, moisten the neck of the jar with mucilage be- 

 fore applying the tinfoil. Now as to the way we 

 tinfoil: Well, we don't tinfoil. We take beeswax 

 3 parts, rrsn 7 partF, and tallow 1 part in 10. Heat 

 and mix thoroughly. Dip in the filled and corked 

 jar ?X tolia.; withdraw instantly, and drip. Set 

 away a few minutes before packing. The mixture 

 must be quite hot, or too much adheres to the bot- 

 tle. This gives an air-tight covering of a beautiful 

 yellow color, much like the honey within. 



Cleveland, O , Mar. 15. H. F. Moore. 



Friend M., one might know by reading 

 your article that you have had large experi- 

 ence in handling honey. 1 have sometimes 

 wondered that other people said so little 

 about the disagreeable feature in handling 

 lionev which you empha'^ize so well. I have 

 visited bee-houses that were so daubed and 

 stuck up that I could hardly be induced to 

 work ia them. Yes, we have had some- 

 thing in our own factory nearly as bad ; but 

 I think that most of the hands have learned 

 what to expect when I find such a scene. I 

 think likely [ do scold pretty hard when I 

 see men setting their great boots into pud- 

 dles of honey, and then go all through the 

 rooms with the honey snapping and smack- 

 ing at every step. I am very much obliged 

 to you for the hint in regard to waxing the 

 corks. We have tried several kinds of seal- 

 ing-wax, but it did not seem to answer. If 

 the mixture described is just what we want, 

 we shall feel exceedingly obliged to you for 

 the information. Friend Muth has just 

 given us a hint in regard to getting corks 

 into bottles, especially where they are pretty 

 large. Boil them in water, and they will 

 become so soft they can be forced into the 

 bottles as if they were rubber. 



HONEY-STRA.INERS. 



FRIEND M'INTYRE TEt,l.,8 US HOW TREY STRAIN 

 HONEY BY THE TON IN CALIFORNIA. 



Don't be alarmed at the heading. I mean strain- 

 ers for straining extracted honey. Who has not 

 been annoyed by a honey-strainer not working sat- 

 isfactorily when in a hurry? yet no one writes 

 about strainers. Sometimes California honey is so 

 thick it is next to impossible to run it through 

 cloth, or even wire cloth, without the strainer soon 

 choking; consequently a great many devices have 

 been invented to overcome the difficulty. I have 

 visited many apiaries in this county, and did not 

 find two strainers alike. Some have abandoned 

 them altogether, and let the honey run directly 

 from the extractor into the tank, and skim the 

 tank every evening. Others have what might be 



called a settler; it is usually a tin box about 14 inch- 

 es square and 13 inches deep, with a tin partition 

 two inches from one side, and running from the 

 top down to within an inch of the bottom of the 

 can. A pipe runs from that side of the can near the 

 top to the tank; the honey passes down under the 

 partition and up the other side, and out the pipe; 

 but the bees, larvfw. and bits of wax, remain on or 

 near the top, and will not pass under the partition. 

 This works well, and will not run over if the pipe 

 is large enough. The reasons I do not use it are, 

 because I must either set my extractor too high to 

 work easily, or cut a hole in the honey-house floor 

 to let the box down; then I don't like to have 80 

 pounds of honey standing in my strainer all the sea- 

 son, especially when changing from one grade of 

 honey to another; and it is some bother to get the 

 honey strained that is left in the strainer. When 

 friend Root was here he said he would like to illus- 

 trate my strainer in Gleanings, so I will send 

 drawings and description. 



Fig. 



Fig. 



m'intyre's honey-strainer. 



No. 1 is a tin box 1.5 x 18 in. inside, 6 inches deep, 

 with a 3 inch pipe In one end, 2'/4 inches from the 

 bottom. No. 3 is a box made of half-inch pine, 15 x 

 16 outside, 5 inches deep. The bottom is wirei cloth, 

 8 meshes to the inch. A piece V2 x 3 x 15 is nailed 

 on one end at the top; a little block, % inch cube, is 

 nailed on each bottom corner. No. 3 sits down in 

 No. 1, the wire cloth being held Ji of an inch from 

 the bottom of No. 1. As the outlet is 3X inches 

 from the bottom, the wire cloth will be about IX 

 inches below the surface of the honey. The honey 

 passes down through the wire cloth, under the end 

 of No. 3, that has the little board nailed on, up 

 under the little board, and out of the pipe. This 

 strainer stands on the floor of the honey house, and 

 the pipe passes out through the wall to a V-ton tank 

 outside. The extractor and capping-box stand up 

 6 inches from the floor, and both empty into the 

 strainer. The strainer has never run over. You 

 see it is a combination of the settling and straining 

 principles. I skim off the bees, etc., once a day, be- 

 cause I do not think it would be clean to leave them 

 longer. I do not have to think about honey run- 

 ning over for a week after commencing to extract, 

 as that is about the time usually taken to fill the 

 tank. I saw some parties extracting last season, 

 where they let the honey run into a pail; and it was 



