770 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1919 



gether suitable. The bees will suck out the 

 honey and allow the granules of sugar to drop 

 out on the bottom board. If soft candy is used, 

 it should be given in some sort of container 

 — a wooden or paper pie-plate — where it 

 can not run down among the frames if it 

 becomes soft. Two sticks should be laid 

 across the candy, when the packing can be 

 folded over. 



A much better candy for midwinter feed- 

 ing is made as follows: 



Into an ordinary kettle of good size pour 

 sugar and water in the proportion of three 

 parts of sugar to one of water by measure. 

 Stir thoroly. For every 20 pounds of sugar 

 put in about one-fourth teaspoonful of tar- 

 taric acid. The mixture should be dissolved 

 before apj)lying the heat. Boil for an hour 

 or so. As the white scale or incrustation 

 forms on the inside of the kettle, scrape it 

 down. While it is cooking, tests should be 

 made frequently as follows: 



Dip up a spoonful of the boiling mixture . 

 and slowly pour it back. When it leaves a 

 fine string it is cooked nearly enough. Now, 

 then, from time to time, with the spoon let 

 a stream fall into a cup of cold water. When 

 the boiling has proceeded far enough the 

 string under water will be brittle and crack. 

 Some use the plan of dipping the finger 

 into cold water and then into the hot syrup 

 and out again instanter. This will leave a 

 film of sugar around the finger. When this 

 film cracks on bending the finger the cooking 

 has proceeded far enough. 



Another and a better way to determine 

 when to stop boiling is to use a thermome- 

 ter and bring the temperature up to 270 de- 

 grees. By that time the water will have 

 been evaporated, when the hot mixture can 

 be poured (never scraping down the sides 

 after beginning to pour) into paper or 

 wooden pie-plates, which must not be dis- 

 turbed or moved at all till the candy has 

 hardened. Paper pie-plates are just about 

 right, and hold about three pounds. One 

 of these, when cold, can be placed on top of 

 the brood-frames upside down, being sure to 

 place small sticks beneath the inverted 

 plate of candy and so provide a good bee- 

 space between it and the top of the frames. 

 It is a rather nice job to make hard candy 

 (not too hard nor too soft) for winter feed, 

 and it will be well to get in touch with some 

 woman who knows how to make home-made 

 candy, as the first experiment may result in 

 failure. Extreme caution must be exercised 

 not to burn the sugar. Some beekeepers use 

 honey in place of tartaric acid, but ex- 

 perience shows that by the use of too much 

 honey the candy will be too soft and "run" 

 all over the frames. A pound of honey to 

 20 pounds of sugar is enough. But another 

 difficulty with the honey is that it is liable 

 to burn on account of the exti-emely high 

 temperature, 270 Fahr. The A. I. Eoot Co. 

 use an invert sugar in the form of nullomo- 

 line in place of honey in the proportion of 

 1 of nullomoline to 12 of sugar. This does 

 not burn, and makes the candy a little softer. 



O. L. Hershiser, at the Buffalo convention 

 held recently, stated he had been having a 

 good deal of trouble in making the candy; 

 but it developed he had been using too much 

 honey. He told how he fed his bees success- 

 fully one winter by making a syrup of three 

 parts of sugar to one of water, putting in a 

 level teaspoonful of tartaric acid to 24 

 pounds of the syrup. The syrup was fed 

 from friction-top pails, the top being per- 

 forated with a common awl. The holes 

 should not be larger than 1/32 of an inch, 

 and the top should fit air-tight. If they do 

 not fit tight they should be made so with a 

 rim of paper. The syrup should be fed cold 

 to avoid exciting the bees. The hive should 

 be level, and the can of syrup should be al- 

 lowed to drain in an inverted position over 

 a pan until it ceases to drip before putting 

 on the hive. 



The objection to any kind of syrup in mid- 

 winter is that it is apt to stir the bees up so 

 they will fly out; and there is the further 

 objection that a five- or ten-pound pail 

 full of syrup put under the packing and on 

 top of the frames is equivalent to a big stone 

 or a piece of iron. Such a large mass will 

 have a tendency to chill the cluster, because 

 the bees would be next to the bottom of 

 the can. A slab of hard candy in a paper 

 pie-dish about % inch thick will not dissi- 

 pate the heat like a much larger bulk of 

 syrup in a can. The candy contains no 

 water, while the syrup does. 



We very much prefer the candy for an 

 emergency winter feed if the beekeeper 

 can possibly make it and we think Mr. Her- 

 shiser would also. 



One thing more: If you are unable to get 

 any sugar, write us, and we may be able to 

 tell you where or how you can get it. We 

 may or may not be able to supply you; but 

 our readers may rest assured that Gleanings 

 will do everything possible to enable its 

 subscribers to get sugar at cost, to us. 



In the mean time the reader is requested 

 to read over carefully our editorial on the 

 sugar shortage, in our November issue, if he 

 has not aheadv done so. 



THE GOOD NEWS comes from the home of 

 Dr. Miller at Marengo, 111., that he continues 

 to improve, and the 

 Dr. C. C. Miller hope is expressed 

 Still Improving. that the beekeep- 

 ing world may not 

 yet have to give him up. Mrs. Miller, writ- 

 ing to Gleanings under date of Nov. 16 says: 



" The ' tired heart ' has responded nicely to 

 treatment and is again beating quite regularly. The 

 thing now is to pick up strength, and a few more 

 years may be added to the blessed 88 years already 

 given." 



Now that the good old Doctor is on the 

 highway to recovery, we do not believe he 

 will be averse to hearing from his friends, 

 but they should not expect replies to any 

 greeting they mav send him. 



