September, 19(17. 



American Vee Journal 



can help it, for as soon as it begins to 

 look milky, I begin to renielt it. It 

 takes less heat, and it can be more 

 quickly done at that time than later, 

 after it has Jiad time to become solid. 

 This, too, seems to answer all the pur- 

 pose, for it will generally remain liquid 

 all through the winter after this one 

 treatment. 



We have over our kitchen stove a 

 shelf that holds one dozen quart cans. 

 With the common firing for family use 

 hpney placed on this will liquefy, ready 

 for closing the can, in about 24 hours. 

 It is very essential that every granule 

 should be melted to prevent granulation 

 a second time later on. I always un- 

 screw the top of each can a very little 

 when I expose the cans to the heat. 

 This may not be necessary. Years ago 

 I liquefied pound-bottles in the same 

 way without removing the corks, and 

 it seemed to work just as well. How- 

 ever, I think it is better to give the 

 packages a chance to "breathe." 



As long as I have liquid honey on 

 hand to supply the market, I keep this 

 shelf only occupied with cans, changing 

 whenever necessary, but later on, when 

 the markets begins to call more regu- 

 larly for honey, the shelf is too slow. 

 To keep ahead of my orders, I use 

 a two-wick oil-stove with a sheet-iron 

 oven. (See illustration.) The latter ac- 

 atcommodates two dozen cans at a time, 

 and with the blaze turned so low that 

 the cans can be handled comfortably 

 bare-handed at any time, two batches 

 can be liquefied in a day. This gives 

 me a liquefying capacit.v, including the 

 dozen on the shelf, of J dozen a day, 

 more than enough to keep me supplied. 



To liquefy 60-pound cans of honey 

 is a very unpleasant job, the best we 

 can make of it. They are too heavy to 

 handle, with no chance, except the lit- 

 tle wire loop, to get hold of them — 

 they slip and slide like so much quick- 

 silver. I aim not to have any 60-pound 

 cans, or honey in still larger bulk, to 

 liquefy. What I expect to sell in this 

 shape is put up in these packages, but 

 all the rest is put up in retail glass 

 .cans or tumblers at extracting time, or 

 as soon as the honey is fit to be handled. 

 But as we can not foretell the condi- 

 tions of the season's trade, our plans 

 and calculations do not always material- 

 ize just as we expect, and thus it hap- 

 pens that I have to liquefy more or 

 less honey in 60-pound cans every fall 

 or winter. In this case I resort to the 

 hot water plan. 



For the outside water receptacle I 

 use the bottom-part of an uncapping 

 can. This is a pan with square sides 

 10 inches deep. In the bottom of this 

 I place a little wooden frame, and 

 when riie can to be liquefied is set on 

 this, fill in the water. To supply the 

 principle of "lots of time," the whole 

 outfit is placed on the back part of the 

 kitclicn-stove a day or two before I in- 

 tend to use the honey. As we use coal, 

 and keep fire constantly day and night, 

 the water is kept at about the right 

 temperature all the time, so that when 

 I am ready to do the putting up, the 

 honey will flow readily from the can. 

 If it is yet a little thick or milky at 

 that time, I fill the jars just the same, 



and let them have a turn in the little 

 oven. 



Formerly I always filled jars direct 

 from the 60-pound cans, but of late 

 years I have a better way. I empty 

 them first into a large cream-pail— 

 melting-pail, as I call it— holding about 

 85 pounds, which I had made for this 

 purpose. It has a hoop of i;4-inch 

 band-iron soldered to the bottom to 

 keep the latter from coming in direct 

 contact with the stove, and at the same 

 time prevent the honey-gate from strik- 

 ing, when the pail is sitting or sliding 

 on the level surface. The advantages 

 of an emplement of this kind are sev- 

 eral. When filling jars, lioney should 

 always be drawn from the bottom. It 

 may be free from all impurities other- 

 wise, but the melting process produces 

 more or less foam, which rises to the 

 top, and thereby improves the appear- 

 ance of the honey drawn from below. 

 Another point is wort^h considering. 



GrEINER'S RELIQUEFVING ApPAR.'iTUS. 



It is much more convenient to fill small 

 packages from a honey-gate than from 

 the opening of a 60-pound can. With 

 the latter, try as we may, occasional 

 spilling and mussing is almost impos- 

 sible to prevent. 



In cases of necessity the slow process 

 of waiting a day or two for a 60-pound 

 can to melt, may not be just the thing. 

 To save time, the matter can be hur- 

 ried considerably without running any 

 risk of injuring our honey. We will 

 suppose that the depth of our hot- 

 water receptacle is only about one-half 

 the height of the can to be melted. It 

 is not likely that many of us are the 

 owners of a suitable implement that 

 will admit of submerging a can clear 

 out of sight. In the first place, the 

 temperature of the water can be raised 

 a little higher, say to about 120 or 125 

 degrees. This is a temperature that 

 a person's hand can bear a short time, 

 but it may become a little uncomfort- 

 able after awhile. In about 3 hours 

 the lower or submerged part of the 

 honey will be melted enough so that it 

 can be turned into the melting-pail, af- 

 ter a hole has been drilled by means 



of a long knife thnuigh the upper part 

 of the yet granulated honey. This hav- 

 ing been done, the second step would be 

 to screw up the can and replace it bot- 

 tom-side-up in the hot-water. If the 

 water has been deep enough to sub- 

 merge one-half of the can, it does not 

 take as long to melt the remainder as it 

 did the first part, because during the 

 melting of the honey below, all the rest 

 has been slightly warmed. 



The operation can also be performed 

 in a reverse order by first placing the 

 can in the water, top down. Then it 

 can be turned out whenever it is melted 

 enough to run, without being obliged to 

 open a way through the upper part of 

 the honey. To facilitate the handling 

 of the can it is advisable, as a make- 

 shift, to wrap a small rope — a piece of 

 a clothes-line will answer the purpose — 

 two or three times around the can, 

 and tie with the usual half-hitch. This 

 will make a much better lifting device 

 than the frail, little wire-loop of the 

 can. 



As soon as the first can be emptied, a 

 second one can take its place in the hot 

 water. After once started, no time 

 need be wasted ; the work connected 

 with our retail-packages, such as wash- 

 ing, labeling, filling, sealing, etc., will 

 occupy our time while the honey in 

 the next can is melting. 



La -Salle, N. Y. 



Outdoor Wintering of Bees 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



I have received the following ques- 

 tions for reply : 



Mr. Dad.\nT: — I wish to try wintering a por- 

 tion of my bees on the summer stands, and 

 as I am informed that you do it successfully, 

 I trust you will be kind enough to give me 

 your method of preparation. I want to know 

 what you use, and how you use it. Do you 

 use a honey-board? If you use enamel-cloth, 

 Iiow do you maintain a bee-space between it 

 and the tops of the frames? And what else do 

 you use and how do you apply it? 



Knox Co., 111.- F. B. Hazlett. 



We do not use any honey-board on 

 our hives at any time. In the spring 

 and summer months we use a cloth over 

 the top of the frames, or over the top 

 super, and a straw-mat on top of this 

 cloth. In winter we remove the cloth, 

 which is usually impervious to moisture, 

 and use the straw-mat directly over the 

 frames of the brood-chamber. We have 

 never tried to use any device for a bee- 

 space at the top. Perhaps a bee-space 

 would be best, and, in this case the Hill's 

 device is as good as anything. It is 

 kept for sale by nearly all the dealers. 



The straw-mat is not used by many 

 people, and yet we would not willingly 

 do without it. It is warm in winter, cool 

 in summer, flexible and not easily pro- 

 polized, even when left over tlie frames 

 in the busy season. But at this time, the 

 bees fasten it to the top of the frames 

 and it is soon torn to pieces. So we 

 have always used a cloth during the 

 working season. 



Our purpose, in using the straw-mat 

 for winter, is to have a cover which will 

 retain the heat and still allow the mois- 

 ture to escape. This may be secured in 

 the same way by the use of old woolen 

 carpets. Two or three thicknesses 



