THE AMERICAJ!^ BEE JOURNAL. 



583 



his sheep from grazing. A Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Union is the outcome of this 

 action. 



" The stings of bees are used by 

 homoeopatliic doctors in the form of a 

 medicine called " apis," as a remedy 

 for rheumatism, diarrhea and several 

 other ailments." 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Waxing Kegs and Barrels. 



W. S. IIAKT, (117—148). 



On page 51 G, in reply to Query No. 

 100, it seems to me lliat none of the 

 replies even hint at the true reason 

 for which, in my opinion, all honey 

 kegs and barrels should be waxed in- 

 side. Mr. Doolittle gives plain direc- 

 tions for doing the job, without refer- 

 ence to the cause of its being done ; 

 all the others infer that it is to pre- 

 vent leakage. Surely these bee-keep- 

 ers of wide experience have heard of 

 its being done to prevent the wood 

 from imparting a disagreeable flavor 

 to the honey ! Why do they ignore 

 this cause V My barrels are tirst-class 

 in every respect, and I fear loss by 

 leakage as little as by tire, and I wa.x 

 all of the barrels before tilling them 

 with honey. 



In this country where timber is 

 plentiful and rock and clay scarce, 

 almost all of the wells (except the 

 Artesian ones, which are cheaply ob- 

 tained and quite abundant) are curbed 

 with wood. The water from these 

 wells for the tirst few years, has so 

 marked, and to most people disagree- 

 able, a flavor that many new-comers 

 will go thirsty for a long time before 

 drinking water even from a well in 

 this neigborhood, that has been 

 curbed with cypress for the past 15 

 years. 



All woods impart more or less flavor 

 to the water. There are large quanti- 

 ties of lumber cast upon our ocean 

 beach, and it consists of almost every 

 kind of wood, but of all these and of 

 our own varieties, cypress is one of 

 the least objectionable on this ac- 

 count. It is true that a person very 

 soon becomes accustomed to this 

 water, and then does not notice it ; 

 but only a very few would care to get 

 used to hosiey that was flavored with 

 it. 



Notice the taste of water from a 

 new wooden Inicket. Now, if water 

 that stands for a short time only in a 

 curb that has been soaking for 15 

 years, becomes unpleasant to the 

 taste, surely there is reason to fear 

 the effect of new barrels on a liquid 

 like honey that is so ready to absorb 

 flavor from almost any source. Nor 

 is this all theory. I have often tasted 

 honey that, after standing in a barrel 

 for some time, had a flavor entirely 

 different from what it was before 

 being put into the barrel. I have 

 tasted extracted honey in the North 

 that, although I was assured it was 

 " pure white clover," and I knew it 

 ought to be very good, still had some- 

 thing about its flavor that for me 

 made it less desirable than good 

 molasses. I may be wrong, but it 

 would take considerable to convince 



me that the honey would not have 

 been better if the barrels had been 

 well waxed before being fllled. 



Many people have an idea that they 

 do not like honey ; others only want a 

 little at a time, as they soon tire of it. 

 Is this because honey will not "wearV" 

 Is it a fact that honey is a sweet that 

 to be relished must be taken in small 

 quantities, and at long intervals V 

 No I it is because people have formed 

 their ideas of it from " strained," and 

 poor grades of . strong flavored ex- 

 tracted, or good grades of extracted 

 honey that have been spoiled after 

 being taken from the comb. My 

 neighbors who can buy the unex- 

 celled Florida syrup for a less price, 

 come to me month after month and 

 year after year for my black man- 

 grove and palmetto honeys, and do 

 not get tired of it. We cannot be too 

 careful about keeping our goods up 

 to the highest standard, and knowing 

 this, although cypress is one of the 

 very best of woods for honey barrels, 

 I wax them every time, and believe 

 that it has much to do with the uni- 

 versal praise that my customers in 

 the North bestow upon my honey. 



As to the cost of waxing barrels, 

 let me say it it is properly done the 

 expense is not as great as would 

 appear from tlie replies made on page 

 51G. Faraffine of a suitable quality 

 can be obtained from 14 to IG cents 

 per pound by the quantity, and is 

 much cheaper than beeswax, not only 

 on account of its lower price, but also 

 because it takes much less of it. The 

 replies to the question of " the best 

 method of waxing honey kegs and 

 barrels," were all right as far as they 

 went, but perhaps I can give a few 

 points that will help to save the waste 

 of wax and thereby reduce the ex- 

 pense to the lowest iigure. 



First, put the barrels out where the 

 sun will shine full upon them, tighten 

 up the hoops and " blow off " the bar- 

 rels to see that they are tight. This 

 " blowing off " is done by blowing 

 with the mouth into the barrel 

 through a small hole until all the air 

 is in that you can force in, then hold 

 the thumb over the hole for a couple 

 of minutes. If the barrel leaks, the 

 hole can easily be found by listening 

 for the sound of air passing out. If 

 they are tight, all the air will come 

 out where it went in, upon removing 

 the thumb from the blow-hole. 



Now while a couple of gallons of 

 wax is heating, get everything in 

 readiness. It is better to use a large 

 plug six or eight inches long, and 

 with a true taper from one end to the 

 other, instead of a bung ; for this can 

 be put in place in a moment, and 

 some part of it will be a tit for the 

 hole, and if made large enough plenty 

 of it will stick out to allow of quickly 

 loosening it wluen ready to do so. 

 Have a hammer and everything that 

 is necessary right where you can put 

 your hand upon it at once. When 

 nearlv ready to commence waxing, 

 wet the floor thoroughly, and also wet 

 a newspaper ; bring in the barrel and 

 lay the wet paper over it ; poke the 

 funnel down through the middle of it 

 and into the bung-hole ; fix the barrel 

 so that it will not roll over, if the 



hung-hole is in the bilge. Now bring 

 the wax bubbling hot, and pour it all 

 in ; put the funnel on the floor, drive 

 the plug quickly in place with the 

 hammer, and twirl the barrel first on 

 its heads, then back and forth on the 

 side as it is being rolled over. Stand 

 on one side as you knock the plug 

 loose, and when that flies out, turn 

 the wax into a pan and heat it for the 

 next barrel. 



By having the barrel hot, and 

 enough wax to keep hot and to coat 

 the inside of the barrel quickly with- 

 out missing any spots, very little wax 

 will be used to the barrel, and yet the 

 job will be thoroughly done. By 

 thoroughly wetting the floor very little 

 care need be taken to prevent spilling 

 the wax, as it will not adhere to the 

 floor, and can be easily swept up and 

 saved. Almost always a little is 

 spilled, and except for the wet paper, 

 some would fall upon and adhere to 

 the outside of the barrel, which would 

 not only be lost, but greatly injure 

 the barrel's appearance. 



New Smyrna, o* Fla. 



For tlie American Bee Joomal 



Bees and Calves. 



C. W. DAYTON, (-58—116). 



My bee-yard occupies about half an 

 acre of ground, and the hives-average 

 about 6 feet apart, from centre to 

 centre. For the last two months it 

 has been used as a pasture for three 

 calves, and though the air has often 

 been filled with flying bees, the calves 

 have always grazed as freely and un- 

 concernedly as could be. Only once 

 have I known a calf to receive a sin- 

 gle sting, and that was when two of 

 them had been fighting, and having 

 turned bottom upwards a hive having 

 a loose bottom- board, exposing the 

 cluster of bees, a calf came up to 

 smell of them. The presence of the 

 hives with bees is no more of a detri- 

 ment to their feeding than so many 

 empty boxes would be. 



"When the calves were first turned 

 into the yard, I expected the bees to 

 take care of themselves, but since 

 four or five hives have been turned 

 over, and about live covers a day 

 having been knocked off, the calves 

 liave been turned out of the bee-yard 

 for the safety of the bees. 



Some who had supposed bees to be 

 a terror to anything showing signs of 

 life, have been made to wonder at so 

 little attention as bees really do pay 

 to stock ; and have often been heard 

 to exclaim that it was strange that 

 the bees did not sting. The fact is 

 that the bees have not been treated in 

 any way to make them cross, which is 

 usually done by rough manipulation, 

 robbing, etc. My bees are mostly 

 hybrids. "Whether bees will molest 

 sheep sooner than calves, I can- 

 not say. but I should hardly suppose 

 that they would. 



With us the white honey harvest 

 was very short, and a fall crop is not 

 expected, as we are having frosts 

 every morning. 



Bradford, cj Iowa. 



