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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July 1 



and blackberries may be canned, using about 

 half the amount of honey that would ordinarily be 

 used of sugar. The larger fruits, such as peaches, 

 pears, quinces, etc., are also improved by the 

 honey. 



Fruit must be handled right in order to be 

 good, and we must be free from other duties 

 while canning it. A very safe rule is to follow 

 whatever plan has been found successful, substitut- 

 ing half the amount of honey for the sugar. I 

 am sure no one will be disappointed. 



For cooking purposes, making pickles, etc., 

 honey is just fine. We never buy molasses, corn- 

 syrup, or glucose — "ugh!" You should see 

 some of my ginger-bread which Mr. McGlade 

 says is the " cake that takes. " Here is the recipe. 

 Try it for yourself. 



Two eggs, cup granulated sugar, cup and a half of honey, cup 

 of sour milk or buttermilk; cup of butter or lard; teaspoonful of 

 cinnamon and a teaspoonful of ginger. Beat all together and 

 add two teaspoonfuls of soda dissolved in a little hot water; flout 

 to make a thin batter (about five cups). Bake slowly. 



We use honey in making pumpkin pies — a gen- 

 erous teaspoonful to the pie. Furthermore, we 

 use honey on the table every day, and our little 

 boy never tires of it. He helps himself with a 

 spoon whenever he likes, at mealtime or between 

 meals, and has not had a cold nor seen a sick 

 day this winter, although he runs and plays out 

 in the fresh air in all kinds of weather. Of course, 

 honey can not be given entire credit for this, but 

 it helps, and is cheaper than doctors' bills. 



Some have asked whether fruit can be put up 

 cold by simply filling the can with the fruit, cov- 

 ering it with honey, and sealing. I have never 

 tried it, because I don't believe the fruit would 

 keep or be good; but if any one wishes to be 

 convinced, let him try it, for it would cost only 

 about seventy-five cents. 



Hebron, C)hio. 



FULL SHEETS OF FOUNDATION 

 SPLIT SECTIONS A SUCCESS. 



IN 



BY JAMES P. HOWARD. 



In reply to the footnote at the end of Mr. At- 

 water's article on the use of full sheets of foun- 

 dation in sections, p. 152, Feb. 1, I can say that 

 we have used them to some extent for the past 

 two years. We used the Coppin split section, 

 which is made in two separate pieces. To fill in 

 the foundation, a holder is placed in a form, and 

 a row of the half-sections laid in, when the holder 

 is keyed up in the form so that the sections are 

 held in exact shape to go into the super; then the 

 sheet of foundation, cut to the exact size to fit 

 the row of sections, is laid on, the other half of 

 the sections laid on, then a piece of board of suit- 

 able dimensions placed on the soctions, and 

 pressed down fery firmly. I pound it with some 

 solid light weight, after which I grasp the holder 

 so that the sections can be held in place, lifted 

 from the form, and placed in the super. 



In the first season's trial I don't remember any 

 failure of sections being completely filled and fin- 

 ished infancy shape — not a single pop-hole any- 

 where. 



We tried still more of them the last season, 

 with about the same results during the first half 

 of the season; but in most of the supers filled 



later there were more or less brace-comb attach- 

 ments to the fence separators, which were a seri- 

 ous objection wherever they occurred. It seem- 

 ed to be caused by the sagging and bulging of the 

 foundation, bringing it too near the separators. 

 The foundation used was all of the same lot, and 

 all other things and conditions the same so far as 

 we could see, except the weather, which was very 

 cool the past season. On the whole we consider 

 it a success. The sections are 4^X5X1^, and 

 fit finely in the regular Ideal supers. 



LIQUEFYING CANDIED HONEY. 



In the light of our experience "in this locality," 

 Mr. Holtermann's statements in the last two sec- 

 tions of his article, page 145, seem very absurd. 

 Honey in the brood-chambers of our hives, when 

 candied, remains so until thrown out, and some 

 is always thrown out of some hives as soon as the 

 bees began to uncap any in the fall. I think he 

 would get very tired of waiting for such honey 

 to liquefy at a temperature of 100 degrees. 



Milwaukee, Wis. 



EXPERIENCE WITH FULL SHEETS OF FOUNDATION 



FASTENED ON ALL FOUR SIDES OF THE 



SECTION. 



Mr. Root: — In the issue for Feb. 1 you ask for 

 reports from those who have used sections with 

 foundation fastened on three or four sides. We 

 used several thousand the past season with fasten- 

 ings on four sides in 4X5 sections in Danzenba- 

 ker supers, and the product was entirely satisfac- 

 tory. I believe there were not two cases of ill- 

 shaped or unmarketable sections in the whole of 

 them. 



The hives were fairly well shaded, and possibly 

 that might help a little in preventing sagging and 

 buckling. But in the same yard we used sec- 

 tions with foundation fastened only at the top 

 in the usual way, and the honey was just as good 

 in every way except some that was gathered later, 

 and also some where only narrow starters were 

 used. 



I would say that, so far as quality of finish is 

 concerned, nothing could be finer than the honey 

 produced on foundation with four sides fastened; 

 but the extra work is just that much added to the 

 cost of production; and, in our experience last 

 year, it was entirely useless. 



CONTINUOUS SMOKE THROUGH COMBS ON A 

 WHEELBARROW TO STOP ROBBING. 



Last fall I discovered what I think is a very 

 good plan for getting the upper hand of the rob- 

 bers when taking off honey to be extracted. We 

 were only about half through a yard with ex- 

 tracting, and the robbers were getting so bad that 

 it was next to impossible to do any thing. Rob- 

 bers are bad in proportion to the size of the yard, 

 and this was a good-sized one. 



1 took a tin dish and fixed it under the wheel- 

 barrow in such a way that, with a small fire in it, 

 it would send smoke up through the set of combs 

 in the super on the wheelbarrow, and scarcely a 

 bee would venture in. At first I thought it 

 might injure the honey flavor; but if the right 

 amount of smoke is used, and not too long con- 

 tinued, it will be entirely impossible to detect a 

 trace of smoke in the honey. 



Parma, Idaho. H. E. Crowther. 



