464 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



have the money to spare with which to buy the 

 queens. If you can not do this, wait until next 

 spring-; then buy an imported queen, rear queens, 

 and Italianize your neighbors' bees, if you have to do 

 it for nothing. I know from experience that it re- 

 quires quite an effort to get the blacks out of a 

 neighborhood, and to keep them out; but you will 

 find that it pays in the end. Don't go into the busi- 

 ness too largely at fh'St; and if you have one season's 

 experience in rearing queens and selling them to 

 your neighbors before you advertise and send them 

 away by mail, you will not have so many unknown 

 difficulties to contend with, as you will know some- 

 thing about the business. Do e.vacly as you agree, 

 and satisfy your customers, even if you have to re- 

 turn their money. Reply to every communication 

 promptly. If you can not send queens at once, write 

 and let your customer know when you can send 

 them, and why they are delayed. One customer 

 wrote me this season as follows: " I don't mind wait- 

 ing a little for the queens, if I only know when they 

 are coming, and why I have to wait." 



There has been some discussion of late in regard to 

 which pays the better,— to raise queens or honey. In 

 a good honey season, I think there is about as much 

 money in honey, and enough sight less worry and 

 "trouble;" while, if it is a poor season, you can, by 

 feeding, rear queens at a profit. There is another 

 advantage in the queen business, and that is, you get 

 your money right in your "fist," " cash down," and 

 there is no chance for the commission men to "gob- 

 ble" it. And "last, but not least," unless you can 

 make queen-rearing your principal business, don't 

 think of going into it, for you will certainly lose 

 money, as one little " forget," or one little " neglect," 

 will knock the profits " higher than a kite." 



BEES APPEARING DEAD, WHEN THEY ARE ONLY 

 CHILLED. 



If any one should receive queens and bees by mail 

 during the cool weather of October and November, 

 and they should appear to be dead, let them warm 

 them carefully before deciding that they are really 

 dead, as they may be only chilled. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 

 Rogersville, Genesee Co., Mich. 



m •»• m 



EARLY-AMBER SUGAR-CANE. 



II All VESTING THE CROP AND .MAKING THE 

 SUGAR. 



ST is September 25th, and our sugar-cane 

 is ripe, and harvested. Some that we 

 — ' planted a little earlier had ripened its 

 seed nicely, by the first of September. Half 

 a dozen of us went into the held, and stripped 

 the leaves off so as to leave only the bare 

 stalk, and, as soon as that was done, the 

 stalks were cut close to the ground, and 

 laid in small bundles. Another hand then 

 went from bundle to bundle, and cut the 

 heads off, while one of the small girls stuck 

 them in the ground that they may cure, 

 ready for thrashing, without any danger of 

 molding. After this the stalks were drawn 

 to the mill. Our mill is a second-hand, two- 

 horse-power machine, and we run it by a 

 belt from our engine. We set it up outdoors, 

 and ran the belt out through the door. 

 For two weeks back, I have been consider- 

 ably exercised to invent some plan for boil- 

 ing down the juice by means of steam. Aft- 



er the second experiment, I improvised a 

 machine which works so admirably that I 

 will describe it for the benefit of you who 

 have steam-engines. Two pans were made 

 of tin, as large as our largest sheets of tin, 

 which are 20x28 inches. The sides of these 

 pans should be about 10 inches high. One 

 is to bring the juice up to the boiling point 

 so as to allow of skimming, and the other 

 is to syrup off in. Of course, the first one is 

 elevated so that a honey gate will carry the 

 juice right into the other, without any dip- 

 ping. Now then, to make them boil by steam, 

 S tin pipes, 1 inch in diameter, are laid about 

 i inch from the bottom of the pan. We want 

 the steam to pass through these, down one, 

 and up the other. To unite them at the ends, 

 a two-inch pipe is made to receive the ends 

 of all of them, so as to form something like 

 a gridiron of tubes. These two-inch pipes 

 are closed at each end, and also have par- 

 titions placed at such points as will compel 

 the steam to pass in a zigzag direction through 

 them all. The pipes must be made of stout 

 tin, securely locked, and where the inch pipes 

 are put into the two-inch, we put a strap of 

 heavy tin around the large pipe, and lap it a lit- 

 tle distance down the tubes. The caps on the 

 ends of the large pipes are made double, and 

 similarly strapped. This is to avoid the pos- 

 sibility of bursting. To be sure, you would 

 better' attach the machine and test it with a 

 pressure considerably greater than you ever 

 intend to use in boiling. A f inch gas pipe 

 admits steam at one corner, being securely 

 soldered in. At the opposite corner, a tin 

 pipe is set in, in the same way, passing 

 nearly to the bottom of the largest tin tube. 

 This is to carry off the water, or condensed 

 steam. The gridirons rest on 4 inch legs' 

 which simply rest on the bottoms of the 

 pans. Steam is admitted to either one, by 

 small globe valves. 



With your hand on the valve, you can set 

 either pan foaming in an instant, aud, in an 

 instant also, you can cause it to stop boiling 

 entirely. Our apparatus is placed in a little 

 building we have been using for drying 

 lumber by steam. An extractor-can, placed 

 on a barrel, feeds the raw juice into the first 

 pan. Raise the gate, and till the pan with 

 juice to within an inch of the top. Xow 

 open the valve, and boiling will commence 

 almost at once. As fast as the coat of green 

 scum rises, skim it off ; but keep your hand 

 on the valve, or it will boil over before you 

 know it. After it has boiled until all the 

 scum has risen that will rise, you can open 

 the gate, and fill the second pan. Manage 

 so as to do all the skimming in the first pan. 

 By this apparatus we get a beautiful amber- 

 colored syrup, that I am extremely fond of. 

 Of course, it has something of an acid taste 

 where no lime is used, but as many do not 

 use the lime at all, I decided we would not 

 with this, our first experiment. The bees 

 have not troubled us very much, although 

 it is extremely dry and warm, and they have 

 nothing but the Simpson Plants anywhere 

 about, to work on in the middle of the day. 

 I would hesitate to feed this syrup for win- 

 ter stores, but, without question, it will be 

 safe for a warm-weather feed. I think it is 

 fully decided that we can all raise our own 



