July, 1919 



G L K A N I N O S IN BEE G U L T U K E 



435 



FROM THETIELD'OF EXPERIE 



THE HONEY PUMP 



Honey is Not Injured by Pumping. Later Heating 

 Expels Air 



The more honey is agitated, the more 

 quickly it will granulate. This is why ex- 

 tracted honey, as a rule, granulates more 

 quickly than comb honey from the same 

 source. This is due principally, no doubt, 

 to the honey flying out in fine streams 

 against the side of the extractor. In this 

 way considerable air is introduced, which 

 seems to be unavoidable. Later heating ex- 

 pels this air, or a large part of it. 



Theoretically, a pump should further agi- 

 tate the honey. How much difference this 

 makes from a practical standpoint we have 

 .never been able to determine. We honestly 

 feel it is a small matter and that the pump 

 itself when working properly does not cause 

 any additional cloudiness, or tendency to 

 granulate. 



If there is a leak on the suctioir side of 

 the pump, considerable air will be introduc- 

 • ed into the honey. This we have found by 

 actual experiment. Or, if the capacity of 

 the pump is much greater than that of the 

 extractor, so that a good share of the time 

 the pump is sucking air, there is no question 

 but that considerable air is introduced into 



Apiai'y of H. T. Wagner of Kedlauds, located in Live 

 Oak Canyon. 



the honey; for it is only necessary to watch 

 the delivery pipe from the pump in the hon- 

 ey-tank, to see the quantity of bubbles of 

 air rising to the surface. The larger bubbles 

 come to the top, but the smaller ones remain 

 in suspension. The ideal arrangement is to 

 have several inches of honey always in the 

 bottom of the extractor. Practically speak- 

 ing, it is not always possible to do this, but 

 it is an easy matter to slip the belt off the 

 pump in case the latter gets ahead; or, if 

 it is continually ahead, the pulley on the 

 extractor that drives the pump, should be 

 slightly smaller, of course. It is difficult to 

 make 'these pulley ratios just right for all 

 conditions. For example, some beekeepers 

 do not care about extracting the combs 



clean. They get nine-tenths of the honey, in 

 perhaps, three-fourths actual running time 

 of the extractor, and rather than take 25 per 

 cent more time to get the additional 10 per 

 cent of honey, they will let it go, figuring 

 that the bees will simply put more honey on 

 top, and that there is no need in extracting 

 the combs clean. Nearly everyone who has 

 given the matter any study, however, feels 

 that it is better to extract the combs clean 

 every time. 



The difference in the thickness of the hon- 

 ey does not greatly affect the proper speed 

 of the pump in relation to the speed of the 

 extractor; for the thicker the honey, the 

 longer it takes to extract the combs clean 

 and, of course, the longer the pump has to 

 do its work. The thinner honey, which can 

 be pumped more quickly, takes less time in 

 the extractor to extract. H. H. Eoot. 



Medina, Ohio. 



:20^Ctf= 



RESPECTS BEES 



Will Find Qu»en as Mark Twain Climbed Alps 



A short time ago Charles Staff wrote us 

 that he had five hives of bees which he 

 kept, not for honey, but for pollenizing 

 fruit trees, melons, and cucumbers, and he 

 asked if it would be all right to permit 

 swarming and simply keep the old colonies. 

 It seemed such a pity to lose those swarms 

 that we suggested preventing swarming and 

 at the same time running for a little extract- 

 ed honey, as suggested in the June Begin- 

 ners' Talks. To this he replies as follows: 



' ' Thank you very much for your letter 

 of May 2nd, and the advice contained there- 

 in, ij ^^ 



"1 had a few friends at my house yester- 

 day and w^e discussed this suggestion of 

 yours about finding the queen and removing 

 her. I proposed that we should all do it in 

 a group or a swarm, as it were, or en masse. 

 We conservatively estimated that there 

 were about ten million bees in the hive, and 

 it did not seem quite safe for any individual 

 to tackle that whole bunch and forcibly re- 

 move the queen. I thought that probably 

 if there were a great many of us, some one 

 might succeed in accomplishing the result, 

 even tho the fatalities might be high. All 

 of my friends, altho some of them have been 

 ' ' over the top ' ' on the other side, one and 

 all gently but firmly refused to entertain 

 the proposition, so the queen still remains 

 where she is and we have decided that we 

 will not remove her. 



' ' May I, in all politeness, ask you what 

 you think the bees are going to do if I 

 should attempt to follow your advice? I 

 want vou to understand that the bees I 



