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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15. 



other wagonload of bees to the heath, to my 

 other bee- house in Ummern. Having learned 

 from other bee-keepers that the bees had work- 

 ed very fast on the buckwheat, I had brought 

 with me seven of ray hives full of frames, with 

 combs, each hive containing 20. These combs, 

 with the hives, I took along with me to my first 

 apiary that I now visited. Here, by turning 

 over the hives, I found that the most of them 

 were full of honey; and, just as I had expected, 

 I took out 140 frames of sealed honey, filled 

 their places with tlie combs I had ready, and 

 stored the honey-combs in the seven empty- 

 hives, in order to take them home. 



Of course, I should have had more honey if I 

 had extracted at the right time, but itwas not 

 possible to do that. I was content with the 

 crop. 



At the end of September I hauled my bees 

 home. They had done very well, for the hives 

 were full of honey. The only trouble was, I 

 could not extract the honey gathered from the 

 Erica vulgaris. IJut as this honey is very good 

 for feeding bees, I reserved a great deal of the 

 sealed comb for feeding, and the rest I sold for 

 the same purpose to other bee-keepers. 



I took that year 10.000 lbs. of extracted honey, 

 and sold it at an average price of 35 cents. 



You see, friend Root, that migratory bee- 

 keeping pays very well in Germany if the bee- 

 keeper is always on the lookout for better for- 

 age, has a good hive and bee-wagon for mi- 

 grating, and understands how to move with his 

 bees at the right time. 



Finally, I am obliged to confess, right here, 

 that not always does migration with bees here 

 yield such a respectable profit; but one good 

 year makes up for two bad ones. A great. ad- 

 vantage in my wandering to the Ericavulgaris, 

 for me, is, though the heather honey can not 

 be extracted, it enables me to avoid feeding su- 

 gar in the fall. I can feed my colonies with the 

 best food for bees— with sealed honey. To cut 

 a long story short, migratory bee-keeping en- 

 abled me to get my livelihood from my bees, 

 and therefore I have always thanked God. 



Wilsnack, Germany. 



MAKING SUGAR SYRUP FOR FEEDING. 



A CHEAP AND HANDY PERCOLATOR OUT OF A 

 REGULAR UNCAPPING -CAN. 



ny B. Tayhn: 



Editor Oleaninijs : — 1 read Dr. J. T. Beall's 

 article, on page 226, of March Gleanings; 

 also that of M. F. Tatman, page 332, April 15, 

 with great interest. Feeding intelligently is, 

 in my opinion, the key to certain success in 

 honey production. It now appears certain to 

 me that it is impossible to winter bees with 

 certainty in our northern country, where they 

 are confined five or six months, unless the hives 

 are well filled with young bees when winter 



commences. Sometimes the usual fall flow of 

 nectar from flowers fails; and the colonies, 

 especially those that have made a large amount 

 of surplus white honey, will cease to raise 

 brood when their store of surplus is taken away, 

 and I am now certain that such colonies can 

 not be wintered by any perfection of quarters 

 or preparation, so as to come out in the spring 

 sufficiently strong in bees to breed up strong 

 for the white honey-flow; and without this, 

 profitable bee-keeping, as the conditions and 

 demands of markets now are, is impossible. 

 The remedy is, to feed the bees in the fall, 

 when the flowers fail from any cause; and I 

 know that, by expending .50 cents to $1.00 for 

 sugar, and making it into suitable syrup, and 

 feeding it intelligently, it will cause a colony 

 to continue brood-rearing, and have the neces- 

 sary force of young bees that can live until 

 another season begins. 



Granulated sugar is the cheapest material to 

 make this syrup of, as a dollar will now buy 

 20 lbs. at retail, which will make 30 lbs. of 

 syrup — enough to send any colony into the cel- 

 lar in prime condition. This sugar syrup, 

 however, unless skillfully made, is liable to 

 twoserious faults — fermenting and granulating, 

 either of which is fatal to success. 1 had learn- 

 ed to avoid these difficulties, but at the cost of 

 considerable trouble, and 1 hailed any simple 

 and certain means of making thu syrup as a 

 great boon; and I know that thousands feel as 

 I do; hence the question is one of great impor- 

 tance to bee-keepers in general. 



When I read Mr. Tatman's article I decided 

 to go to town at once and get the necessary 

 material for a machine; but no team being 

 immediately at command, I was compelled to 

 delay. Alice Carey says, in one of her sweet 

 poems, — 



We can not make barg-ains for blisses, 

 Nor catch them like tislies in nets; 



And ot'ttimes tlie thing's life misses 

 Help more tlian that which we get. 



Being disappointed I lay down for a restful 

 nap. Here is the time and place where I do 

 my thinking and dreaming. A vision present- 

 ed itself to my mind. I had one of Bro. Root's 

 uncapping-cans. Why would not this make a 

 capital leach for making syrup? Here is the 

 12-gallon can below, for holding the syrup when 

 made, with molasses-gate all ready to draw it 

 off. The top can will hold at least 150 lbs. of 

 sugar, with room for water. But this great 

 weight will be too much, for the wire-cloth 

 bottom will sag and spoil it. I will go at once 

 and plan to overcome this difficulty. Oh happy 

 day ! Brother Root has anticipated this very 

 need. He has put this large tin cone in the 

 lower can for this very purpose. I had forgot- 

 ten it was there. I had often wondered why it 

 was made, as the cappings from combs when 

 extracting are very light, and do not need it. 

 It is now plain why it is there. Brother Root 



