862 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct, 15 



'Die idea has long- prevailed that the co- 

 cu.i palm was native to the coasts of the 

 K astern seas. This will undoubtedly prove 

 to be an error. If Mr. Cook's theory prove 

 to be the correct one, the cocoanut palm may 

 be g-rown inland, in which case bee-keepers 

 will be furnished with another string- to 

 their bow, one on which they can rely. 



I do not think it is quite as good a honey- 

 yielder as the date, though there is proba- 

 bly not much to choose between them. In 

 Florida the cocoanut has undoubtedly a fu- 

 ture. The largest grove of cocoanuts is 

 said to be in Florida, and probably more 

 will be planted for years to come, since the 

 United States must prove a fine market for 

 the product. There are other species of co- 

 coas in South America, but I do not know 

 their value as honey-plants. 



The royal palm {Oredoxa I'egia) is known 

 already to many of the readers of Glean- 

 ings as a honey-plant. It has the draw- 

 back that it is grown only for ornament, 

 though it is often cut down for the "cab- 

 bage" it contains, which is the soft unfold- 

 ed green leaf. In the "English " island of 

 the West Indies it is known as the cabbage 

 palm — a very prosaic name for a very ele- 

 gant specimen of the vegetable kingdom. 

 The palms are the princes of the vegetable 

 kingdom, and the royal palm their king. 

 Some botanists have distinguished another 

 i^^eciesoiOredoAa ; \\z. , Ole}-acea,h\xt,\\h\nk, 

 without rhyme or reason — certainly with 

 bad taste when they term it Oleracea. It 

 gratifies the bee-keepers to know that so 

 noble a tree is an extra good producer of 

 honey. Large numbers of these fine palms 

 have been ruthlessly destroyed in the West 

 Indies for their cabbage — almost extermi- 

 nated in some islands — but with the advance 

 in civilization more will be planted as ave- 

 nue trees and for decorative effect. 



The Greek architects are said to have 

 copied the palm when they designed their 

 beautiful columnar style of masonry. 

 Whether this is so or not, it is a queer spec- 

 imen of a man who is not struck with a 

 feeling of admiration when viewing an ave- 

 nue of these splendid productions of nature. 

 If the onlooker is a bee-keeper he has the 

 added satisfaction that the trees he beholds 

 are excellent honey-bearers, and it rather 

 flatters a bee-keeper's pride when he dis- 

 covers that the date, the cocoanut, and the 

 palmiste are plants the little bee delights 

 in. Curiously enough, royal -palm honey 

 and mahogany are much alike in all re- 

 spects. 



BLEACHING COMB HONEY. 



A Suggestion in Regard to the Burning of Sulpbur; 

 A Cheap and Effective Wax=press. 



BY J. A. CRANE. 



Mr. Root: — Allow me to make a sugges- 

 tion in regard to the burning of sulphur for 

 the purpose of bleaching comb honey. Mr. 

 J. E. Crane says he could not make the 



cold smoke draw through the clamps of 

 honey. Now, I never tried to make smoke 

 go through a stack of honey, but I have 

 followed it through all or nearly all sorts 

 of fruit-bleachers, from the old basket in a 

 barrel covered with a sack or something, to 

 the latest steam-driven bleachers and slid- 

 ing-box bleachers of the present day, hav- 

 ing used personally seven different appara- 

 tus for the purpose, and having bleached 

 more than 50,000 bushels of apples, and 

 burned tons of brimstone. P^irst, the only 

 method of burning brimstone now practiced 

 is the cup method, which is as follows: 

 Have a cup made of sheet iron, or, better, 

 cast iron, that will hold from a pint to a 

 quart. Put in as much brimstone as you 

 need, crumbled fine. Take another piece, 

 large enough to hold easily; light a match; 

 hold it to the lower edge of your brimstone; 

 let it melt and burn, and drop into the cup, 

 when it will gradually melt and burn — a 

 veritable lake of fire and brimstone. Now, 

 when you have your cup going, place it in 

 a box with a pipe leading to your bleach- 

 box, entering at the bottom of the front end. 

 Next have a stovepipe leaving your bleach - 

 box from the top of the back end, entering 

 a chimney or other flue with a strong hot- 

 air draft from a stove or furnace. I draw 

 sulphur smoke through eleven feet of apples 

 in crates in this way contintiously for sev- 

 eral months at a time when running my 

 evaporator in the fall, and am sure the 

 same plan will work satisfactorily with 

 honey. 



I should also like to describe, for the ben- 

 efit of others who have a few bees and some 

 wax, but not enough to pay to buy a wax- 

 extractor, a press of mine which costs but 

 little and is effective, and easy to operate. 

 First get a large old-style pit-bottom din- 

 ner-pot. Remove the bale ; make a false 

 bottom of =i X % hard-wood strips fastened 

 together by tacking on strips of tin so it 

 will lie on the shoulder formed by the top 

 of the pit. Next take some hoop iron and 

 make two hoops just large enough to fit in- 

 side the kettle on top of the slat bottom. 

 Then make some more hard-wood slats, Y% 

 X Js, just long enough to reach from the top 

 of the slat bottom to the top of the pot. Nail 

 these inside the hoops, y% inch apart, one 

 hoop at the top and one at the bottom. 

 Make a circular follower to fit inside your 

 hoop. Next take a piece of 2x3 hard wood, 

 long enough to reach across the pot; bore 

 two ^i-inch holes near the ends so that they 

 come just over the ears of the pot; cut off 

 the heads of two fs bolts; bend a hook on 

 them to hook into the ears of the pot. Now 

 get an apple-barrel press-screw; bore a 

 hole in the center of your cross-piece for the 

 nut; place the nut on the under side, and 

 your press is done. Place the pot on the 

 stove; fill one-third with water; put in the 

 slat bottom and hoop. Take a piece of 

 burlap, or, better, grain-bag, large enough 

 to line the hoop, and leave quite large cor- 

 ners sticking out over the top. As soon as 

 the water boils, begin to put in your old 



