218 



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then the sides of the cell are raised a 

 trifle, and honey added, continually 

 raising the sides, and tilling until it is 

 completed, when the sealing is com- 

 menced, gradually expelling the air, 

 and sealing. The bees were the first 

 canners known, and "goods" put up 

 at their establishment will keep for all 

 time, if stored in the right kind of an 

 apartment, free from frost and damp- 

 ness. 



HOW EXTRACTED HONEY IS SECURED. 



Extracted honey is this honey poured 

 out of its waxen cell, just like we un- 

 cap a can of fruit, and pour its con- 

 tents into another vessel, suitable to 

 put upon the table. The sealing is cut 

 from the cells with a very sharp knife, 

 and then it is put into a wire basket, 

 which revolves within a tin cylinder, 

 and revolved quicklj', when the cells 

 are emptied by centrifugal force. The 

 honey, as it is thrown against the sides 

 of the can, runs down into the bottom, 

 and is drawn oft' through a gate into 

 suitable vessels. 



In whatever shape this product may 

 be bought in the open market, of this 

 countrj', if it bears the name of the 

 apiary and producer, it will prove to 

 contain nothing but pure sweet dis- 

 tilled in the corollas of flowers. 



Peoria, Ills. 



HIVES. 



Cliaff* or Double- Walled 

 Single-fValled Hive§. 



v§. 



Written tor the Ameriryn Bee Journal 

 BY T. C. KELLY. 



Having 33 colonies of bees, consist- 

 ing of Carniolans, Italians and natives, 

 all in good condition, I may possibly 

 be entitled to the appellation of " bee- 

 man ;" and so I want to express my 

 opinion in regard to chaff or double 

 walled hives vs. single-walled hives. 



I use a hive, the dimensions of 

 which accommodate a frame lOjxlS} 

 inches, inside. I make the inside wall 

 of }-inch boards, and the outside wall 

 of i-inch stuff, with |-inch air space 

 between. I pack with chaff, in winter 

 and summer. I have a detachable 

 section-case, which I fill with loose 

 buckwheat or oats chaft", after remov- 

 ing the enameled cloth in the fall. I 

 place about two thicknesses of burlap 

 over the frames, after having prepared 

 passage-ways over the frames for the 

 bees during a cold spell. I winter the 

 bees on the summer stands, and have 

 never lost a colon}-, when properly 

 prepared in tliis manner. Yet my 

 neighbors, who winter their bees in the 

 single-walled hives, lose some each 

 winter — and so did I when I used 



single-walled hives, even to all the 

 bees I had. 



As to double-walls being too cool for 

 storing honey, let those w-ho think so, 

 watch their hives on some warm day 

 in May or June, and see if they do not 

 find a large number of bees fanning 

 at the entrances. What is that for ? 

 Is it to cause a circulation of air, or to 

 pass away time ? If to cause circula- 

 tion of air, then the double-wall is not 

 too cool ; if to pass away time, then 

 say, "lazy little bee." 



My hive weighs about 25 or 26 

 pounds, without the section-case or 

 cap. I view this matter in about the 

 same light as almost all bee-keepers of 

 the present day view the legendary 

 stories of "king bees," and "telling 

 the bees " when a member of the 

 familj' has died (for good luck). But 

 there are some " slow to learn." 



Last evening a neighbor said to me, 

 "I find water on the cloth in mj' hive 

 every time I look at it." I asked, 

 " What kind of cloth do you use ?" He 

 answered, " Enameled." Having neg- 

 lected to remove the enameled cloth, 

 the result was condensed moisture and 

 no absorbent. 



Slippery Rock, Pa. 



TEXAS. 



Horticultural Society — Honey- 

 Production in Texas. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY A. C. ATEN. 



On Feb. 17, the American Horticul- 

 tural Societj' held its biennial meeting 

 in Austin, Texas, in Representatives' 

 Hall at the Capitol. There were per- 

 sons here from almost every State in 

 the Union, and a more intelligent body 

 of men it would be ditficult to find. 

 They continued their meetings for four 

 days, and during this time there was 

 an exhibition of horticultural and 

 other products in the Agricultural 

 Department of the Capitol. 



The Capitol of Texas is the seventh 

 largest building in the world — built of 

 red granite, and is nearly 600 feet 

 long, and almost 300 feet wide, three 

 stories high besides the basement ; it 

 contains 258 rooms, and is 311 feet 

 high from the grade line to the top of 

 the dome. A better place for an ex- 

 hibition would be hard to find. 



EXCELLENT EXHIBITS OF HONEY. 



Our enterprizing apiarist, Mrs. Sher- 

 man, of Salado, Tex., had a very 

 pretty exhibit of honey, honey pre- 

 serves and Houdan eggs. She pro- 

 duced some 6,000 pounds of honey last 

 year, all of which is sold. 



I liad on exhibition about 800 pounds 

 of honey, comb and extracted ; quite a 



number of different kinds of honey, 

 such as horse-mint, wild marigold, 

 broom-weed, cotton, rich-weed, morn- 

 ing-glory, etc. I had about 20 glass 

 tvvo-quart cans, one-third of which was 

 granulated ; the balance, except the 

 comb honey, was in one-gallon tin 

 cans, with screw tops. My honey 

 proved a great attraction, and I sold 

 it nearly all by the time the fair closed. 

 A few days ago I had an order for 

 honey whicli I filled, to go to New 

 York, near West Point. 



We had by far the coldest weather 

 of the winter about Feb. 26. The be»>s 

 were beginning to do well — now the 

 most of their supplies are cut off. 



HONEY STATISTICS OF TEXAS. 



I have just received the annual re- 

 port of the Agricultural Bureau of the 

 State of Texas, and with some consid- 

 erable time and care, I have compiled 

 a few figures in regard to the honey- 

 product of this State, for the year 1888, 

 which I hope will be interesting to all. 

 This report was gathered by the asses- 

 sors, while assessing the property in 

 the spring of 1889, and I presume that 

 it can be relied upon as nearly correct. 



The year 1888 was a very poor 

 hone3'-year for the greater portion of 

 Texas, my own yield, however, that 

 year was over 120 pounds per colon}', 

 spring count. 



The total number of colonies in the 

 State was, 146,322 ; total number of 

 pounds of honey, 2,610,100 ; total 

 value of the honey", $257,989. 



The largest number of colonies in 

 anj' one county (Ellis), 4,644 ; smallest 

 number (in Galveston and Hardeman), 

 each 6 ; average number of pounds per 

 colony for the State, 18 ; average value 

 per pound, 10 cents ; least average 

 price per pound of any one county 

 (Waller), 5 cents ; largest average 

 price per pound of any one county 

 (Starr), 25 cents. 



The greatest yield was in William- 

 son county, 128,053 pounds ; most 

 valuable yield (Williamson county), 

 $10,437 ; highest average yield was in 

 Brazoria county, 53j pounds per col- 

 ony ; lowest average yield, Grayson 

 county. IJ pounds per colony. 



In Uvalde county, 2,375 colonies 

 yielded an «verage of 40 pounds per 

 colony. The smallest number of 

 pounds reported for any one county 

 was in Greer county, being 50 pounds. 



The statistics in regard to honey are 

 tolerably complete, and, I think, re- 

 liable. The production of honey in 

 this State, I really believe, is just in 

 its infancy. There are perliaps a 

 thousand pounds of honey lost, to one 

 pound that is gathered b}' the bees in 

 Texas. What a saving of money and 

 health, if this was all saved and used 

 here, in the place of the other sweets ! 



Round Rock, Texas, March 7, 1890. 



