234 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



convenience for the reason that ive can 

 not alivays get cans on time in a heavy 

 honey flow. I lost in one apiary one 

 good extracting-, by not being- able to 

 g-et cans in time, which would have 

 amounted to six tons; besides the loss 

 of the working- force by bees crowding- 

 the brood out. 



Cloth tops to honey tanks are a fail- 

 ure with me. They do not prevent 

 vermin and dust from getting- in, and 

 whatever evaporation is gained during 

 the day, is partially lost during wet, 

 dewy nights. 



We have no winter problem; 40 to 50 

 or more pounds of honey left in a hive 

 at the close of the extracting season, 

 will put the bees through the winter 

 with plenty of young bees and strong 

 in numbers. Colonies left with only 15 

 to 20 pounds of honey do not breed up 

 so strong for the winter, and come 

 through in a weakened condition. 



All particles of wax, such as brace 

 and burr combs should be cared for. 

 My annual scrapings of wax are suffi- 

 cient to pay a man's salary for a num- 

 ber of months. The wax wasted in 

 California amounts to many tons; but, 

 of late years, a small percentage is 

 saved. 



A good sun extractor is a necessity, 

 and, if properly made, will pay for 

 itself many times over. I have tested 

 them thoroughly. The slumgum should 

 be taken (while hot) from the sun ex- 

 tractor and packed into moth proof 

 boxes until such time as convenient to 

 heat and press out by a wax press. 

 A good wax press is also a necessity 

 to a well-equipped apiary. If properly 

 constructed it will give profitable 

 results. 



Slum gum contains from 25 to 45 per 

 cent, of wax, and comb contains from 

 60 to 85 per cent, of beeswax. This is 

 worth considering. 



Years ago, previous to the use of the 

 press, my slum gum was used for fuel, 

 and, astheold comb was only partially 

 rendered, I lost tons of wax. The 



refuse, from the press, when dried, 

 makes the best fuel — the heat from it is 

 intense. 



Apiaries should be on gradual, slop- 

 ing grounds. That is my preference; 

 fur I can lay out the grounds to the 

 least confusion of bees, but level 

 grounds are good, if there are sufficient 

 and varied vegetation or trees to break 

 the monotony. I prefer the extracting 

 house at the lower side, with plenty of 

 fall for free flow of thick honey through 

 three-inch pipes to tanks below. 



A well-equipped apiary should con- 

 tain the following with the buildings 

 mentioned in the fore part of this 

 article : 



Three large, galvanized, cone-top 

 tanks for different grades of honey, 

 size of tanks acccording to size of 

 apiary. 



One 4-to-8-frame Cowan reversible 

 extractor. 



One"10-to-l5-gallon strainer. 



One galvanized uncapping box, ca- 

 pacity sufficient to hold the cappings 

 of at least one good extracting. 



Three Daisy vvheelbarrovvs with 

 carrying boxps for the barrows. 



Bee brushes in plenty. 



Two 3-to-4-inch painter's scrapers. 



Three of Root's improved uncapping 

 knives. These knives are the best I 

 have seen. 



One capping knife heater. 



Three or four Corneil improved 

 smokers; these surpass any smoker 1 

 have ever used for service and dura- 

 bility. 



One good broom in each building. 



One good mop and requisites to 

 keep all clean. 



Some carpenters' tools. 



Two No. 3 soldering irons and solder 

 and resin and muriatic acid, small 

 pieces of zinc waste for reducing acid. 



One pair tin-shears and other tools 

 if desired. 



It is not necessary to have an exten- 

 sive equipment for small apiaries, and 



