128 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



of foundation in proportion to the increased duty, 

 and this would hit the comb honey producer 

 who gets but little wax. While the extracted- 

 honey producer would get more for his wax, it is 

 doubtful if the difference would more than offset 

 the increased expenditure of the comb-honey 

 man. Again, the use of bee. wax is increasing 

 by leaps and bounds, and there is just a danger 

 that any great advance in price at the present 

 time would have a tendency to drive the manu- 

 facturers and other users of beeswax to find a sub- 

 stitute to take its place. 



So far as beeswax is concerned, judging from 

 the increased demand for this article, duty or no 

 duty, the price is bound to be firm, and probably 

 higher in the future than it has been in the past. 

 Hardly a week goes past without a letter asking 

 for quotations on pure beeswax, with generally 

 something added like this — "we find the need 

 of this article more every year in our business. " 

 Only a few days ago a firm of foundrj men asked 

 me for quotations on a thousand pounds of bees- 

 wax — an order I could not begin to fill. 



1 am well aware that this matter of the tariff 

 on honey has been touched on in only a super- 

 ficial manner; but if it is the means of helping to 

 bring out a full discussion on this important sub- 

 ject, my object will have been accomplished. I 

 have been wondering why it is that, with the ex- 

 ception of a single non-committal hint by Dr. 

 Miller, not a reference has been made by any 

 correspondent of the different bee journals to the 

 matter of the tariff resolution under discussion. 

 It certainly is an important question, and worthy 

 of careful consideration. Like all other ques- 

 tions it has two sides, and perhaps with the writer 

 it may be a case of "fools rushing in where an- 

 gels fear to tread;" but we will cheerfully accept 

 the reward of our folly if we succeed in goading 

 some one to apply the lash. 



Mount Joy, Ont., Can. 



[While we should like to see this question dis- 

 cussed, and invited such discussion, our position 

 is such that we think best to refrain from taking 

 any sides. It is, indeed, an important subject, 

 and, like yourself, we are surprised that no one, 

 until you did, really argued the matter. Ed.] 



BEE-KEEPING IN CALIFORNIA. 



BY M. H. MENDLESON. 



POSITION OF THE UNCAPPlNG-BOX. 



In the Nov. 15th issue, p. 1376, I noticed the 

 view of an extracting-room where the uncapping- 

 box stood at the left of the extractor. In this 

 part of the country we have our uncapping-boxes 

 at the right, for the reason that a comb of honey 

 to be uncapped is generally in the left hand, so 

 that the knife may be held in the right hand; and 

 when the comb is uncapped it is then close to the 

 extractor, so that it is not necessary to change it 

 into the right hand. 



WIRING OF FRAMES. 



I can not quite understand why any one should 

 prefer vertical wiring. Whenever I wire frames 

 vertically, the top and bottom bars sag; but 

 when I wire horizontally, and the foundation is 



imbedded by electricity, I have no bad sagging, 

 and in most frames there is no sagging at all. 

 One should be careful to fasten the foundation to 

 the top-bar, and imbed the wires to the center of 

 the septum. I have found that Imbedding by 

 electricity is the only satisfactory method, as the 

 cell walls are sure to melt, and then close behind 

 the wire, leaving the wire permanently imbedded 

 in the septum. I always have perfect combs in 

 this way. The first and main cost is learning to 

 do the work, which means, of course, the loss of 

 a few sheets of foundation. Some say that the 

 expense consists in the furnishing of a proper bat- 

 tery, but I believe that this can be overcome. 



HOT vs. COLD KNIVES. 



There are various conditions to consider when 

 discussing the uncapping of honey; for instance, 

 the temperature and body of the honey, the knife, 

 and the operator. During my first experience in 

 extracting, many of the combs had a rolling, un- 

 even surface. I prefer to cut straight and even, 

 however, so that the combs will be in good con- 

 dition the next time. It does not pay to follow 

 the bumps and hollows by "skinning" the cap- 

 pings, as it takes too much time and labor. 

 There is a good deal of difference between un- 

 capping thick honey and thin or unripe honey. 

 A hot knife will run through heavy-bodied hon- 

 ey almost as easily as through that which is only 

 medium in body. I prefer to have my honey 

 thick and ripe, and a cold knife would make 

 slow and laborious work, and would mutilate the 

 comb, wasting the wax and making extra work 

 for the bees in fixing up the combs again. If the 

 combs are left smooth and even, they will still 

 be in that condition at the next extracting. The 

 hot knife enables a good uncapper to cut off a 

 whole slab of cappings at one sweep, saving the 

 bother of slicing them off in small pieces. I can 

 uncap over double the amount with a hot knife. 

 I have proven this many times. With our pe- 

 culiar flows of honey, a cold knife would be a 

 loss to me, and 1 should not be able to keep up 

 with the bees. 



At the last extracting in each season I cut the 

 combs down to brood thickness, so that a part of 

 them may be used in the brood-chambers the 

 following spring. I allow the queens free access 

 in the supers, too, at first, in order to get a big 

 force of bees for those good flows of honey; but 

 in the second or third extracting I confine the 

 queens to the first story by the use of queen-ex- 

 cluders. 



SOURING OF HONEY. 



I agree with Mr. T. P. Robinson, page 1374, 

 Nov. 15, in regard to the souring of honey. 

 Near the ocean I have seen honey ferment in 

 hives containing strong colonies, and with only 

 one super; but such instances have been shortly 

 after the bean-flow and during a long penetrating 

 foggy spell. The honey is ripe when capped 

 over, but it draws the dampness from the air. I 

 have noticed that bean honey seems to absorb 

 water rather more easily than the sage. I have 

 taken bean comb honey back to mountain apia- 

 ries to thicken, and then have brought back the 

 thick, ropy, bean and sage honey to my custom- 

 ers on the coast, and the bean honey would in- 

 variably ferment sooner than the sage, when not 

 hermetically sealed. 



