I902 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



195 



erating is to find short cuts and quick 

 methods of doing things. His gait is 

 easy and assuring. He knows what to 

 do, and goes about doing it in a meth- 

 odical style that suggests thoroughness 

 in its accomplishment. During the hot 

 weather he takes frequent rests, leisure- 

 ly sips his lemonade and is always ready 

 to discuss any apiarian (juestion; being 

 especially well informed on historical 

 points relating thereto, but never wear- 

 ies his audience with tales of the great 

 amount of honey extracted in "one 

 hour, twenty-two and a half minutes." 

 He is not in the lightning class; but, 

 nevertheless. Vear in and year out can 



A-ery likely show results that will fa- 

 vorably compare with most of those 

 whose chief pride is in doing a lot 

 in "little or no time." The comparison 

 suggests the tale of the tortoise and 

 the hare; and Mr. Poppleton, "gets 

 there, just the same." 



At noon we repaired to the cabin of 

 the Thelma; the coffee pot was placed 

 upon the stove and forthwith Mr. Pop- 

 pleton proceeded to demonstrate his 

 asserted claim that we were lying di- 

 rectly over one of the best pools for 

 fish. The hook baited and cast over the 

 gunwale, Mr. P. settled himself upon a 



campstool to resume the story of four- 

 cent honey, which had been under con- 

 sideration, and wait for a "bite." "Yes," 

 he continued, "Morrison's little story 

 of the insignificance of West Indian 

 competition, is nice to read, and plau- 

 sible; but all such arguments fall flat 

 in the face of statements from Northern 

 dealers which I have recently received, 

 to the effect that our honey can not be 

 sold at this time for four cents a pound, 

 because of the great amount of Jamai- 

 can honey in stock." The absolute 

 worthlesness of such talk in the jour- 

 nals was just beginning to create an 

 impression upon his listeners, when, 

 with a vigorous "swash" as it parted 

 the waters and started for the sea, the 

 fish-line drew our attention, and Capt. 

 Poppleton's chain of thought was rude- 

 ly severed, as he proceeded to altern- 

 ately pay out and houl in, hand over 

 hand, with the dexterity of an Isaac 

 Walton, notwithstanding the numerous 

 protestations and instructions showered 

 upon him by his assistant apiarist. 

 Gradually the runs of the big fish be- 

 came shorter, until the mottled sides 

 of a ten-pound Jewfish came to the sur- 

 face of the deep blue brine and over 

 the gunwale of the launch; and for a 

 time gave the impression of its having 

 come abroad for the purpose of "clear- 

 ing the ship," so forcible were its 

 bounds and flops. By this tme, the cof- 

 fee pot was singing, and the repast was 

 spread. It was interesting to listen to 

 the history of the solar wax extractor, 

 and how the use of the sun's rays under 

 glass, in extracting honey from the 

 combs, had led to the present device 

 now so universally used for extracting 

 wax. Mr. Poppleton has in use a "so- 

 lar" built upon the original plans, as 

 first used by himself: and it is his opin- 

 ion that the majority of solar extractors 

 are sadly wanting, by reason of the 

 meagre area of glass surface. Relying 

 solely upon our memory of the device 

 there seen, it was a box quite forty 

 inches square, with the top entirely 

 covered with glass; while the tin upon 

 which the combs were placed was, ap- 

 proximately, 18x24, and the receptacle 

 for the wax was placed inside the box, 

 so as to keep the melted wax at a 

 high temperature; thus allowing all for- 

 eign matter to settle or rise to the sur- 

 face, as dictated by its specific gravity. 

 The melted wax is then dipped careful- 



