196 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



so dislike this method that I seUluiu 

 employ it. 



The last method I shall give oC 

 dislodging the bees is one I dis- 

 covered last season and so far I 

 like it best of all. The process is 

 as follows : smoke out and In'usli 

 olf the bees as before and place 

 the cases in compact, bee-proof 

 piles twelve or lifteen high, then 

 upon the open top of the pile 

 place a covered, bottomless hi\'e 

 containing a few combs one or 

 more of them filled with brood 

 not yet capped. The brood will at- 

 tract the bees and in a few hours 

 they mil be found clustered in the 

 hive when they can be removed, 

 leaving the honey ready for stor- 

 age. 



Having observed these prelimi- 

 nary cautions, we are [)repared to 

 attend to the process of curing 

 our crop, with the satisfaction of 

 knowing that, with a good honey 

 house and ordinary care, we may 

 now have our honey not only 

 fine in appearance but excellent in 

 quality and capable of being kept 

 in store for a year at least, with 

 its quality all the time improving. 

 To accomplish this, both warmth 

 and dryness arc indispensable in 

 ortler to induce the atmosphere to 

 take up and carry away as much 

 as possible of the moisture con- 

 taineil in the lioney. The honey 

 house therefore should be con- 

 structed with this object always in 

 view. 



In the first place, I deem it of 

 the highest importance that it be 

 built throughout so that the inside 

 temperature will not be easily af- 

 fected by the changes outside, in 

 order that it may not be necessary 

 to keep up constant fires in it dur- 

 ing cold weather. From my own 

 expei-ience 1 do not hesitate to say 

 that the fioor, the ceiling and all 

 the walls should be double and 

 packed with dry sawdust or with 

 some other substance equally good 



for the purpose ; the walls should 

 receive in addition a thickness of 

 buihling paper, and the windows 

 should l)e neither numerous nor 

 large. In such u house one fire a 

 day or even less often will pre- 

 vent freezing during zero weather. 

 Then in planning the house an eye 

 should be constantly had both to 

 the foundation and to the inside 

 linishing with the view of securing 

 dryness. I should finish it inside 

 with wood which would look much 

 better with paint but is better for 

 the honey without paint. The 

 house will, of course, be furnished 

 with a chimney and a stove, both 

 of which must be thoroughly safe, 

 and the windows should be fur- 

 nished with some good device per- 

 mitting bees to go out but pre- 

 venting their entrance. One part 

 of the honey room ma}' well be 

 equipped for a work shop to be used 

 during wintry weather. In this 

 room the cases of honey should 

 be stacked up in such a manner 

 as to give the air a chance to cir- 

 culate freel}'' through ever}' one. 

 The warm, dry air of summer 

 may be allowed to circulate freely- 

 through the open windows Ijiit 

 never admit damp air, particu- 

 larly it' it is of a higher tempera- 

 ture than that of the room. If a 

 free circulation of the air is per- 

 mitted, a (ire will seldom be needed 

 during the summer months ; but. 

 as the raw da3's of autumn draw on, 

 kindle the fire more frequently. 

 Keep the temperature up to 70" or 

 80° F. as much of the time as pos- 

 sible, and never pei'mit it to go 

 down to 32°. It would be all the 

 better, if convenient, to keep the 

 temperature even higher than 80°. 

 Honey treated in this wa}' for four 

 or five months becomes a real del- 

 icacy, not at ail to be compared 

 for table use with new hone}', nor 

 with honey less carefully handled. 

 More attention ought to be paid to 

 the quality of honey and buyers 



