24 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



that is, when the elbow is turned with the open- 

 ing down, the whole contents of the receiving-pan 

 will be emptied. If the elbow is turned up, noth- 

 ing can run out from that outlet. Two-thirds 

 the way up toward the top of this pan, and a lit- 

 tle to one side, is an open tube. This is the 

 wax-outlet. Near the top of the pan, and still 

 further to one side, is a second wax-tube. To 

 use the top tube the lower one is corked; but we 

 used the lower one. Two pails are placed under 

 these tubes, one for the honey, the other for the 

 wax. 



To operate, when the water in the tank is near 

 the boiling-point the cappings are allowed to fall 

 from the uncapping-knife on the heated tubes, to 

 melt. From these the melted wax and honey run 

 down into the aforesaid pan below, to separate, 

 the wax going to the top and the honey to the bot- 

 tom. The elbow to the lower outlet is now 

 turned up so that nothing can run out of the sep- 

 a'ating-pan until it fills up to the level of the first 

 or lower open tube. Probably 90 per cent of the 

 mass that enters this pan is honey, and there 

 would be but a thin scum of wax at first; so when 

 the first sign of wax is seen running out of the 

 wax tube, showing that the pan is full, the honey 

 (or lower) tube is turned down, and the honey 

 drawn from the bottom of the pan, but turned up 

 again before the wax begins to run out. This 

 process of drawing off honey is repeated four or 

 five times, or until there is an accumulation of 

 an inch or so of wax floating on top of the honey. 

 When this condition has arrived, the pan is al- 

 lowed to fill up until the wax is all run off the 

 top of the honey, or until there are signs of hon- 

 ey coming through the wax-tube. Then the 

 honey is drawn out as before, until another ac- 

 cumulation of wax is obtained. This honey be- 

 ing of the dark kind, I could not say whether the 

 flavor was hurt in the process of melting the cap- 

 pings or not. The wax was not hurt in the least, 

 although it was not in condition for the market. 



Nothing has been said of the main advantage 

 of the capping-melter as I see it. The honey 

 that usually goes to waste in the cappings, as 

 usually handled, is saved. We use the Mclntyre 

 uncapping-box principally, and at best we leave 

 at least three or four hundred pounds of honey 

 in cappings each year, because we can not get 

 it all out. This loss was saved this year on 

 that part of the crop put through the melting-de- 

 vice. 



Remus, Mich., Dec. 12. 



[We are very glad to get this report from anoth- 

 er extensive producer of honey. We always hes- 

 itate to recommend a device advocated only by 

 those who keep bees on a small scale or who are 

 in the business principally for pleasure. Our 

 largest producers are beginning to favor the cap- 

 ping-melter, and this leads us to think more and 

 more that the plan is very economical in more 

 ways than one. 



In regard to the strip of glass near the bottom 

 of the separating-pail, we would say that the plan 

 would undoubtedly be a success, although it 

 would be quite expensive to insert such glass in 

 the side of an iron pail, for it would have to be 

 made tight enough to prevent leakage. So far, 

 we have not felt the need of an indicator to show 

 the amouit of honey left in the pail, for the rea- 



son that we never draw off all the honey. We 

 simply draw enough off so that there is never 

 danger of the pail running over, and it is probable 

 that at least two inches of honey remains in the 

 pail all the time. Another reason why we have 

 not felt the need of an indicator is that the mass 

 of honey and wax is not at a high temperature 

 when it leaves the capping-melter, and the wax 

 very quickly becomes congealed enough so that 

 there is no great danger of drawing off the melt- 

 ed wax at the bottom of the pail. If a very few 

 particles of solid wax run out with the honey it 

 does no great harm, as the honey should be strain- 

 ed any way with the rest that did not go through 

 the capping-melter. 



The illustration, p. 1379, Nov. 15, should show 

 a wooden box covering the top of the capping- 

 melter. The bottom of this box slopes down to- 

 ward the center, where there is a large hole 

 through which the cappings may slide into the 

 melter. This box serves to confine the heat to 

 quite an extent, so that a smaller flame is suffi- 

 cient to give the degree of heat necessary. 



The point mentioned by our correspondent in 

 regard to the saving of the honey is a good one. 

 It is impossible to get all the honey out of dry 

 cappings; for, although such cappings stand for 

 months to drain, there is considerable honey left; 

 and, even though pressure is applied, there is en- 

 tirely too much waste. — Ed.] 



COMB VS. EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Amount of Honey Consumed by the Bees 

 in Building New Combs not Absolutely 

 Essential in the Solution of the Ques- 

 tion; Wax Secreted Involuntarily. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



I have read Dr. Miller's note and the editor's 

 reply, page 867 of the July 15th issue, and I con- 

 sider the subject of the relative value of comb 

 and extracted honey important, and one which 

 is not generally understood. It is now over 

 thirty years that I have been handling bees with 

 my own hands, and during the past twenty years 

 I have never had less than from two hundred to 

 seven hundred colonies, with an average, per- 

 haps of two hundred and fifty, at a safe estimate. 

 During all of this time, excepting the first two 

 years, I have been producing both comb and 

 extracted honey; most of the time certain yards 

 were run for comb honey, and others for ex- 

 tracted, and there have been few seasons when I 

 have not produced holh kinds in one or several 

 yards. I have found that there has often been a 

 fairly general average between the various yards, 

 the proportion of one kind of honey to the other 

 sometimes being about equal, although there is 

 often more of either kind than of the other. I 

 am speaking now of the yield as a whole and 

 not of the yield per colony, as I will come to 

 that later. 



Dr. Miller says it takes from four to five 

 pounds of comb to hold 100 lbs. of honey, and 1 

 think he is about right. New combs, and those 

 not enlarged by burr-combs or bulges, will not 

 yield more than two or three pounds of wax to 

 the eight-frame hive; but old combs that have 



