8.50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



we frequently find I'roin two to 20 C4ueens with 

 ixnerswariii!;. Ibesc (juoeiis have lu-eii niutured 

 tk. o Jays, even if they are seen .just hatchiiij,--, and, 

 in my opinion, no queen of any race, Syrian or any 

 other, can fly when first hatched, unless she has 

 been kept back liy the bees. G. M. Doolitti.e. 

 Borodino, N. Y., Oct., 18S<5. 



I loo, friend D., liave olteii watched 

 queens while they were uttering their pip- 

 ing note ; but from the movement of the 

 hody, I always supposed the wings had 

 sometliing to do wiUi it ; altliough 1 did not 

 and do not now think llie note was caused 

 by rubbing the visible portions of the wings 

 together. In fact, 1 do not know much 

 about ilV AVill Trof. Cook or Prof. McLain 

 tell us bomething about if;' 1 have seen 

 (pieens take wing within a few minutes 

 irom emerging from the cell ; l)ut very like- 

 ly they were by some means, or for some 

 reason or other, kept in the cell until they 

 were several hours or perhaps a day old. 

 No doubt you are right al)0ut it. 



HOW TO MAKE LABELS STICK TO 

 THE CANS. 



A RECIPE FOK HONEY-CAKES. 



T SHOULD like to teli some of the many readei-s 

 j^ of Gleanings how to put labels on tin cans, 

 ^l and have them stick so they will not come off. 

 ■^ Make a thin solution of white glue, then thick- 

 en it with wheat flour until it is about the con- 

 sistency of paste. This is to be made the same as 

 any other paste. Cover one side of the label with 

 the paste, then put on the honey can or pail, and I 

 think you will not have any trouble about the la- 

 bels coming- off. 1 would suggest that there be 

 something more printed on the labels, perhaps 

 some recipe for cake or pies. Of course, they are 

 to be made with honey, or, at least, part honey. We 

 ought to think of some way to help sell more hon- 

 ey, and I think this way we have spoken of may 

 help the bee-keepers to sell more houey, provided 

 the honey is pure and nice. 



I will iend you a recipe for cake. It is nice to 

 have it warm for tea, or equally good when cold. 

 One-half cup of honey; one-half cup of sugar; one- 

 half cup of butter; one egg; two cups of flour; one 

 cup of cold water; two teaspoonfuls of baking- pow- 

 der. Flavor with lemon or fauilla. This recipe 

 will make one larg-e loaf, or can be baked in gem- 

 pans. Mrs. Jennie M. Johnson. 



Rexford Flats, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1880 



NORTH - AMERICAN BEE - KEEPERS' 

 SOCIETY AT INDIANAPOLIS. 



Handling and Caring for Liquid Honey. 



SOME valuable FACTS ELICITED FKOM FKIENU 

 MUTH AT THE INDIANAPOLIS CONVENTION. 



f^ HE following facts were brought out by 

 I'- a series of persistent questionings, 

 I and I presume friend Muth was wak- 

 ed up to give them with a little more 

 earnestness because one or two in the 

 convention seemed to think they knew more 

 about it than he did. Please bear in mind, 

 friends, that Mr. Muth has probably han- 

 dled more liquid lioney than any other man 



on the face of the earth. He has had expe- 

 rience with it by the hundreds of barrels, 

 and has kept it for years, and finally dispos- 

 ed of it all, I presume, at a paying figure. 

 Friend M. is by no means a man who does 

 business without pay. 



Perhaps many of the friends remember the 

 position he has always taken, that honey 

 need not be left to ripen in the combs, but 

 that it will ripen itself, if left exposed to the 

 air, in almost any kind of open vessel. Some 

 of us have been pretty much decided ngainst 

 this; but when the matter was fully explain- 

 ed at the convention, 1 began to feel asham- 

 ed of myself that 1 had not perceived it be- 

 fore. For instance, if we have a quantity of 

 extracted honey in an open vessel, the heav- 

 iest portion will soon sink to the bottom, and 

 the thin honey will be found on the surL-^ce. 

 Now, if I should dip a saucerful from the 

 surface of a barrel of honey in this condi- 

 tion, and it should taste raw, thin, or even a 

 little as though it were fermenting, I should 

 be inclined to call the honey bad. Not so, 

 however, says friend Muth. Put it where 

 the air has free access ; cover it with wire 

 cloth or mosquito-netting, or any thing that 

 will keep out insects and yet permit evapo- 

 ration, and in due time it will come all right 

 of itself ; that is, when the surface has evap- 

 orated t(^ the proper thickness, the taste of 

 the honey will be much improved, and the 

 bad flavor gone. Dr. Miller stated that he 

 had taken honey which he supposed was 

 sour, or spoiled ; but he found that, when 

 placed in a shallow vessel on the reservoir 

 of the stove, it would, in the courpe of time, 

 become thick, sweet, and good. Sometimes 

 honey is gathered and barreled when so raw 

 and ianripened that it will expand so as to 

 bulge the heads of the barrels. If you bore 

 an auger-hole in to relieve the pressure, the 

 honey will fly out and shoot against the ceil- 

 ing overhead. A novice might say that this 

 honey had fermented, and was all spoiled. 

 Not so. Give it free vent ; expose a consid- 

 erable surface in open vessels— crocks, pails, 

 barrels, large tin cans, or whatever you may 

 choose, and it will in time evaporate out all 

 the watery part that rises to the surface, and 

 become thick, nice, ripe honey. I presume, 

 of course, these receptacles should be placed 

 in a dry room, for a cellar might be so damp 

 as to cause moisture to collect on the sur- 

 face. Housewives frequently scald preserves 

 to make them sweet, and succeed perfectly, 

 even after there is quite a perceptible taste 

 of fermentation. Now, the process of cur- 

 ing unripened lioney is precisely the same, 

 only it is done at ordinary temperatures. 

 The result accomplished is the same— get- 

 ting rid of the surplus moisture. If you 

 spill some honey, and let it remain several 

 days, you may notice it gets thick, and final- 

 ly becomes like wax or gum. It slowly parts 

 with a portion of its water. Honey in an 

 open vessel will do the same thing, if you give 

 it plenty of time. The warmer and drier the 

 room, i presume, the better. Friend Doo- 

 little does the same thing with comb lioney, 

 to evaporate and thicken the honey in tlie 

 unsealed cells ; and he does this, as you may 

 remember, in what he calls a honey-room ; 

 namely, a room with plenty of windows, so 



