July 19, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



453 



bee-keepers, but with the addition of most of the best breed- 

 ers we will prove that our " pet scheme " is of as much 

 worth to American bee-keepers as the National bee-keepers' 

 Association is. Overton Co., Tenn. 



The Boardman Feeder— Rendering Wax. 



BY G. H. FKKV. 



NOT long- since I saw the question askt as to what to do 

 with Boardman entrance feeders to keep the feed from 

 running- out faster than the bees would take it. A few 

 years ago I commenced keeping- bees, and after reading- 

 books and papers on bee-keeping, and talking with experi- 

 enced bee-keepers, I concluded it would be a good plan to 

 feed, especially in the spring up to the time of the honey- 

 flow. So I began to look for a good feeder, and after study- 

 ing all kinds I decided to try the Boardman entrance feeder, 

 as did some other bee-keepers here, one to the extent of get- 

 ting 100 feeders, which he has not used yet. 



After getting- my feeders (20 in number), I found that 

 no matter how level, or how careful I might be, the feed 

 would run out as fast as possible, taking about five minutes 

 to empty a quart jar. I workt and fust with them until I 

 became almost disgusted. At last I tried putting a piece of 

 thin cloth over each jar before putting the cap on. Some- 

 times I would punch holes thru the cloth if it didn't let feed 

 thru fast enough ; but I found this unsatisfactory. Then I 

 put my thinker at work again, and finally came to the con- 

 clusion that the hole cut in the cap was too large, so I tried 

 some with a JJi-inch hole cut in the center of the old cap, 

 using both caps. This gave the best of satisfaction. Then 

 I fixt all I had, which I use right along now, but I find in 

 putting the special cap on the other cap they must be sol- 

 dered as tight together as possible all around (not fastened 

 all around, but just in three or four places). 



I have had some experience in rendering wax from old 

 combs. At first I tried melting and straining, but got very 

 little wax. The past spring I made a press by taking two 

 planks (hard wood) Sji feet long and 14 inches wide, hinged 

 together at one end with three of the largest size strap 

 hinges, the hinges being bent to fit over the ends of the 

 planks, after putting a >^-inch thick strip of wood between 

 the planks after the hinges are bolted on. There is a 3- 

 inch square hole cut about 12 inches from the hinged end in 

 the bottom plank, with heavy screen over it, such as is used 

 in sand-sieves, nailed solid with small staples. The ends 

 of the planks opposite the hinged ends are hewed off so as 

 to be used as handles. 



I use a large tin boiler to boil the combs in. They 

 should be allowed to boil up well, so as to get all the wax 

 melted. I also use a large size wooden tub, with a strip 

 nailed across one side, down about 6 inches from the top, 

 for the hinged end of the press to rest on. I also have a 

 box for the handle end to rest on to keep the weight off the 

 tub. Then, taking about half a grain sack, I put in J-2 gal- 

 lon of the melted combs, and folding the sack as much as 

 possible, I proceed to press it out, folding the sack until all 

 the wax is prest out. 



The press will need a strip of cloth on each side, and 

 ckt on the top plank. Also, a piece across the top plank 

 f ront of the portion used as a press. Extracting wax is 

 a job with all common methods, and this plan is no fun. 



After all is prest out and cooled, take off the wax and 

 melt it again in some water, and if very dirty it might be 

 best to melt a couple of times, but in melting two and three 

 times don't let it boil ; just let it come to a boil, so as to 

 have all the wax melted. L,inn Co., Iowa. 



^ 



Candied Comb Honey — How Profitably Utilized. 



BY A. M. APPLKGATB. 



THIS question has been frequently discust thru the jour- 

 nals, and all the best methods given for saving the 

 honey and wax ; but in all these you destroy the comb 

 and leave the honey so inferior in quality that you hardly 

 realize enough out of it and the wax to compensate for the 

 nice straight combs you sometimes have to melt in order to 

 get the honey. 



The method I will attempt to describe preserves the 

 combs as nice as new, and instead of the second-class honey 

 you have first-class vinegar, which will bring you as much 

 money and be as easily disposed of. Besides, you are all 

 aware that inferior honey should not be put on the market 

 at any price. 



Having provided a barrel with one head out, take the 

 frames containing the candied honey, and where they are 

 sealed comb them with the edge of a wire-cloth just enough 

 to expose the honey. Sometimes there will be enough 

 honey in the combs that can be thrown out to pay for un- 

 capping and running them thru the extractor first. Then 

 pack the frames containing the combs as snugly as you can 

 in the barrel, noting at the time about how much honey 

 they contain so that you will know how much water to add. 

 Having the frames secured in the bottom of the barrel so 

 they can not float, pour in water enough to cover them. 

 You can hurry fermentation by adding a little jjeast ; or 

 should you already have some fermenting, add a little of it 

 to the one just prepared. 



Two pounds of honey to one gallon of water makes very 

 good vinegar; but you should keep it as much stronger as 

 possible so that the water used to rinse the combs after they 

 are thru fermenting and thoroly soured, may be added, 

 making in all about one gallon of water to every two pounds 

 of honey. The honey, and even the pollen that contains 

 some honey, or has absorbed some of the sweetened water, 

 will be fermented out of the cells. What is not removed in 

 this way will shrink from the cell walls, when dry, and will 

 jar out or be removed by the bees. To remove the vinegar 

 from the combs turn the frames, with the top down, sup- 

 porting them between the thumbs and fingers, let them 

 drop onto some strips across the top of the barrel, gently at 

 first, until the comb is relieved of some of the vinegar ; 

 then immerse them a few times in water, jar the water out 

 in the same way, and use it to dilute the vinegar. Any 

 additional rinsing will do no harm, neither is it necessary 

 to have the combs entirely free from the vinegar. 



I treated black-brood combs in the same way last sum- 

 mer, and thought what little vinegar adhered to the combs 

 was an advantage.— American Bee-Keeper. 



Value of Bees to Farmers, Fruit-Growers, Etc, 



BY DANIEL WYSS. 



FARMERS, fruit-growers, and gardeners should keep 

 more bees. Will it pay ? will probably be the first 

 thought of the reader. Yes, it will pay to keep bees. 

 We do a great deal of work every day for which we are not 

 rewarded immediately, and for which we do not receive 

 direct pay, but expect to be benefited later in an indirect 

 way for such labor. The only profit most people could see 

 in keeping bees would be the surplus honey obtained for 

 family consumption or to put on the market. Bees are the 

 best agents in fertilizing fruits. When fruit-trees bloom, 

 bees visit the blossoms in quest of honey (nectar). This 

 nectar is secreted in a basin in the lower part of the blos- 

 som. Around this basin are the stamens terminating at the 

 top into anthers, which contain the pollen. Webster de- 

 fines pollen as being the fecundating dustlike cells of the 

 anthers of the flowers. The pistil is the female organ, and 

 stands in the center of the flower. It consists of the ovary 

 at its base, which contains the rudiments of the seeds. On 

 the top of the pistil is the stigma which receives the ferti- 

 lizing powder (pollen) from the anthers. 



The two sexual organs — stamens and pistils — are, in 

 certain species, united on the same flower, and in others on 

 different flowers, and even on different trees. Some plants 

 and trees are sterile to their own pollen. Quite a number 

 of species of trees and plants are fruitless when only pollen 

 from the same tree or plant is applied to their flowers ; altho 

 the same trees and plants mature fine fruits and seeds when 

 pollen from other trees or plants is applied. This goes to 

 show that it is absolutely necessary in order to raise perfect 

 fruit and an abundance thereof from trees and plants that 

 are sterile to their own pollen, that pollen from other plants 

 or trees of different varieties of the same species be trans- 

 mitted or carried to the flowers of these self-sterile varieties. 

 If any reader doubts the above statement, let him make 

 an experiment with two Brighton grape-vines, planted 100 

 yards or more apart, and that distance from any other 

 grape-vine. Then plant a Concord grape-vine within three 

 feet of one of the Brighton vines, and none to the other. 

 When these vines come into bloom probably as manj' bees 

 will be found on the blossoms of the isolated vine as on the 

 other two planted closely together. Some of the bees that 

 will visit these two vines, will probably climb over every 

 blossom thereon, and thus intermingle the pollen of the 

 Concord vine with the blossoms of the Brighton, producing 

 perfect fertilization by cross-pollination. This Brighton 

 vine -will bear large bunches, well and closely filled with 



