262 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



particles of comb will stay with the 

 cappings, where we want them, to be 

 made into wax. 



NO NECESSITY FOR STRAINING HONEY. 



You will notice that, with this meth- 

 od of working, there is no need of a 

 strainer. No matter how much you 

 strain honey, it needs skimming, any- 

 how, so the straining does not help 

 any; besides, it requires some work to 

 arrange a practical strainer. Then 

 there is the washing, and care; more 

 work all for nothing. The gates to 

 our tanks are now placed close to the 

 bottom. When we first began using 

 tanks, we worked on the principle of 

 drawing out the center, so the gates 

 were placed four inches above the bot- 

 tom; but we soon found that there was 

 nothing settled to the bottom, so now we 

 place the gates clear to the bottom and 

 this allows us to draw that much 

 more honej^ before the scum begins to 

 come through the gate. Our benches 

 that the tanks set on, are made the 

 right height, so that the gate will be 

 about two inches above the 60 lb. can, 

 when sitting on the scales. 



PUTTING THE HONEY IN THE CANS. 



We balance the scales at 62^ pounds, 

 the 2^ pounds being the tare. This 

 leaves 60 pounds net, for each can; and 

 is much more convenient than filling 

 the can full, then weighing, as some 

 do. In canning honey from these 

 tanks, one soon learns the number of 

 cans that can be drawn. The idea is 

 to draw all we can without getting any 

 skimming in the can, when the balance 

 in the bottom of the tank is left there, 

 and handled with the next batch. Now 

 it happens some seasons that the honey 

 is not properly cured, no matter how 

 long left on the hives, and, as this 

 thin honey rises to the top, by a little 

 care in canning, we are able to keep 

 this thin honey by itself. 



It will be seen that our honey as fast 

 as canned up, is put directly into the 

 cases, and nailed up, and is ready for 



market the fiext day after extracting. 

 Compare this method with that of stor- 

 ing honey in large tanks, open barrels, 

 tubs, pails, in fact, anything that will 

 hold honey. 



IMPORTANCE OV HAVING CANS IN 



READINESS. 



Some people, apparently, do not 

 have confidence enough in the business 

 to buy their shipping cans until they 

 know for certain just how much honey 

 they will have; then thej^ order their 

 cans. At this time of the year every- 

 body wants cans; the jobber is, per- 

 haps, out, causing a delay; then, the 

 freight is slow; and by the time the 

 cans arrive the honey is candied, neces- 

 sitating more work to melt it up and 

 can it than it did to extract it in the 

 first place. Then, many times, the 

 bee-keeper is caught without anything 

 to put his honey in, causing a loss that 

 would pa}^ for his storage several 

 times over. Probably the greatest 

 point in favor of canning honey as we 

 go, is the fact that not more than one 

 bee-keeper in one hundred, has a suit- 

 able place to keep honey in, so that 

 the longer it is left open, the poorer it 

 gets, in both bodj' and flavor. 



Let me repeat: have confidence in 

 3'our business. Put in your stock of 

 cans, or any other supplies you need, 

 early; if the season should prove 

 unfavorable, so 3'ou do not use them 

 all this season, they will keep over all 

 right. We have, at this writing, fifty 

 cases of two 60 lb. cans each, or 

 enough to hold 6,000 pounds of honey, 

 stored away in each of our extracting 

 houses, read}' for next summer's use. 



ADVANTAGES OK OUT-APIARIES WIDELY 

 SCATTERED. 



As we now have our honey in the 

 cans, ready for the market, it va^y be 

 well to sum up, and emphasize, some- 

 what, what we have already written; 

 and, perhaps, bring out a few more 

 points. In the first place, we have 

 tried to impress upon the reader wh^t 



