SEPTEMBER 1, 191': 



General Correspondence 



A SUCCESSFUL QUEEN-CAGE CANDY MADE 

 WITHOUT HONEY 



A Substitute for Sealed Honey During the Winter 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER 



He who makes available the principles 

 embodied in a good idea is quite as much 

 to be honored as he who originates it ; and 

 he who makes practical what another has 

 only partly developed is also a benefactor. 

 Sometimes necessity is quite as often the 

 foster-mother of a half-grown plan as she 

 is reputed to be the mother of invention. 

 Apropos of which is the result accom- 

 plished by one New England queen-breeder 

 when bee-disease laws and i:)ostal rulings 

 bade fair to hamper his business seriously. 

 Reference is made to the Avork of Mr. 0. 

 F. Fuller, of Blackstone, Mass., a persist- 

 ent sort of chap Avho seems to have a way 

 of making goocl with ideas which some one 

 else has not quite won with. Confronted 

 with the troubles alluded to, and hearing 

 of a bee food or candy containing no 

 honey, he sent to England for samples and 

 recipes. In due time both arrived, to- 

 gether Avith a feeder in Avhich to use the 

 •candy. But the cand}' did not behave ac- 

 cording to rule or expectations, having a 

 faculty of getting too hard or too soft. 

 So, instead of guessing, Mr. Fuller hies 

 Mmself to an acquaintance Avho is a pro- 

 fessional candy-maker, shoAvs him his bee- 

 candy and the recipe, tells him the trouble 

 and Avhat he desires to accomplish. The 

 ■candy-maker very cordially tells him all 

 he can about it, and also tells him Avhat 

 ingTedients to increase or decrease in ex- 

 perimenting. At the problem Mr. Fuller 

 goes Avith his usual persistence, and the 

 result is success, as might be expected. He 

 has a candy Avhich he and other queen- 

 breeders have been using all the season 

 Avith perfect success, and not a drojj of 

 honey is in it. The recipe has been very 

 generously furnished by Mr. Fuller, and 

 here f oIIoavs : 



Granulated sugar, 5 lbs.; coffee A sugar, 

 1 lb. ; glucose, 1 lb. ; Avater, 11/2 pints ; one 

 level teas])oonful of cream tartar. 



Boil until the temi^erature reaches 240 

 ■degrees F. for summer use, or 232 F. for 

 Avinter use. Do not stir it Avhile cooking. 

 When it reaches the desired temperature, 

 remove from tire and let it cool until the 

 finger can be held in it for half a minute, 

 then stir and stir until it is so thick that 

 it Avill barely pour out. It may then be 

 run into molds, feeders, or cages. If kept 



in a closed receptacle it Avill not change 

 for an undetermined period, the Avriter 

 having some made last February Avhicli 

 shoAvs no change yet, and Mr. Fuller savs 

 it Avill keep indefinitely. 



Any thermometer Avliich Avill register u> 

 to 300 degrees F. Avill do to test the cook- 

 ing syrup; but a regular candy-maker"s 

 thermometer is better, if one plans to make 

 much candy. 



Queens have been successfully shipped 

 pretty much over this country and Canada 

 and to England Avith it. Full colonies 

 shaken from their combs have been shipped 

 with no other food than this candy, and 

 Avith the best of results. 



He and others also use this candy in 

 feeders as a Avinter food, and many Mas- 

 saclmsets and NeAv Hampshire beekeepers 

 are high in their praise of it. 



Last Avinter, which Ave all knoAv Avas a se- 

 vere one, it Avas used in quite a number of 

 cases where the bees had so little honey it 

 could be called none, and the colonies sup- 

 plied with the candy Avintered excellently. 

 Incidentally, a very few pounds of candy 

 took tlie place of many pounds of honey. 



The feeder used for the purpose is"^ an 

 English device. As made and used by Mr. 

 Fuller, it is a rectangular frame made of 

 strips of Avood about Iavo inches Avide. 

 These are grooved about 14 inch from one 

 edge, and into this groove a pane of glass 

 is slipped, making a box Avith a glass bot- 

 tom. Mr. Fuller's feeders take a pane 6xS 

 inches. These boxes are filled Avith the can- 

 dy Avhen it is hot and soft, the candy com- 

 ing Avithin about a bee-space of the top. 

 When it is cold it can be handled like a 

 block. Each feeder holds about 21/2 lbs. 

 Tavo or more of these are inverted" over 

 the top of the brood-frames, and coA-ered 

 Avith cushions or some similar protection. 

 The bees have access to the Avhole of the 

 noAV under surface of the candy. No mois- 

 ture or air can get at the edges or top of 

 the cake, so it neither hardens nor softens. 

 By turning back the cushion the beekeeper 

 can readily see hoAv much of the food is 

 consumed. 



Mr. Fuller does not claim anv of this as 

 original ; but he does knoAv that he has made 

 a success in the compounding of a candy 

 for bees Avhich is Avitho'ut honey. Pie has 

 given to the old candy-feeding "system the 

 one or two little kinks Avhich it needed to 

 make it all that can be desired. To the 

 queen trade, and thence to all beekepers. he 

 has brought a boon in the shape of a 

 thoroughly practical and successful food 



