1884 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



267 



EXTRACTING HONEY 



While It Is Tliln and Unripe, and Evapo- 

 rating it by Artificial Means. 



FRIEND MARTIN TELLS US HOW TO MAKE THE AP- 

 PARATUS. 



BRO. ROOT:— You have doubtless seen, from 

 time to time, notices of Mr. L. C. Roofs hon- 

 ey-evaporator, especially in the ApicuUui-ist, 

 and in the proceedings of the N. E. N. Y. B. K. A., 

 as published by Mr. Locke. As there has been 

 some inquiry about this apparatus, and not rruch 

 definite information given, I shall take the liberty 

 to give a description of it as I saw it at, the resi- 

 dence of Mr. Root. It is a simple apparatus (shown 

 in this sketch), made of tin, with an inclined top. 

 Upon this surface are tin strips to guide the honey 

 in a zigzag course down the incline, as shown by 

 the arrows. The new idcn is to extract the honey, 

 or nectar, before it is capped over, or just as fast as 

 the bees collect it. In this thin, unripe condition, it 

 is run over the evaporator, entering the tube A, and 

 running out at B, ripened. 



APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING THIN HONEY. 



If I understand Mr. Root, he.does not wish to get 

 a greater quantity of honey, so much as he does a 

 better qualitu. Honey can be evaporated down to 

 any degree of thickness, even to hard candy, I think, 

 with this evaporator. 



The tube C is used to fill the'tank with water; a 

 thermometer is also placed in this tube, to graduate 

 the temperature; the heat is maintained with an 

 oil-stove. 



FRIEND martin's SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT. 



It will be noticed, that the shape of guides causes 

 the honey to run down the incline in a thick stream, 

 as shown in Fig- P. The evaporator would be more 

 rapid and even, I think, if it were run down in a 

 thin sheet, giving more surface. 



I would suggest this improvement, and shall use 

 one constructed on the plan of Fig. 3. We hope 

 many bee-keepers will try Mr. Root's plan during 



the coming season; for In many experiments we 

 can come to a definite conclusion as to its value. 



John M. Martin. 

 Hartford, N. Y., March, 1884. 



Many thanks, friend M., for your descrip- 

 tion. -No doubt much honey that is taken 

 out unfit for market might be, with this ma- 

 chine, worked over into a nice article, espe- 

 cially if it is so treated as soon as it is taken 

 from the hives. I confess, however, that 

 without having had any practical experience 

 in the matter, I should be inclined to say the 

 bees could do it cheaper than it could be 

 done by the above apparatus, although I 

 may be mistaken here. I have ripened thin 

 honey by placing it on shallow pans, expos^ 

 ed to the open air, and I know it changes it 

 very materially ; and if the weather is dry 

 and warm, it does not take very long either, 



FROM THE SAND AND SAWDUST RE'" 

 GION. 



A VISIT TO SOME OF THE BEE-KEEPERS ALONQ 

 LAKE MICHIGAN. 



BEAR GLEANINGS:— Thinking a few notes by 

 the way might be of interest to your readers, 

 I inclose them. From the growing city of 

 Muskegon, abounding in sand and sawdust, the 

 greatest lumber-producing center in Michigan, if 

 not in the entire North-west, I took the C. & W. M, 

 R. R., March 7, arriving at Hart, the capital of 

 Oceana county, at 10 a.m. It is a pleasant little vil- 

 lage, located among gently rolling hills and vales in 

 a fine farming country, timbered with maple, beach, 

 elm, and linden. What a fine country for bee-keep- 

 ing ! was my first thought ; and not long after, I was 

 sitting by the pleasant fireside of friend Markham, 

 listening to his terse and spicy encomiums upon the 

 " busy bee." Mr. M. is a staunch believer in cellar 

 wintering, and well he may be; for success has al^ 

 ways attended his methods. A small farm in the 

 outskirts of the town, planted to orchards of plum, 

 pear, peach, and apple, affords him a comfortable 

 living, while his bees are bringing in a nice surplus 

 of revenue. 



My next visit was to the apiary of Henry Palmer, 

 a mile east of the village. Mr. P. is largely interest- 

 ed in bees, and has, in connection, a supply depart- 

 ment of no small dimensions. A visit to the winter 

 quarters of the "blessed bees" showed me 120 col- 

 onies, stowed snugly away in an outdoor cellar, in a 

 side hill, where the temperature is kept at 48^ to 54*. 

 The entrance is left fully open, as in summer, while 

 the honey-board is pushed back about two inches. 

 Here the bees seemed to cluster, showing their ap- 

 preciation of the arrangement made for ventilation. 

 Mr. P. has had wonderful success with this plan of 

 wintering, which is substantially the "Adam 

 Grimm " method, I believe. Mr. P.'s bees were pur- 

 chased directly from the great bee-master of Wis- 

 consin, and from his own lips Mr. P. learned many 

 valuable lessons in the science of bee culture. Mr. 

 P. puts no faith in the utility of early or cleansing 

 nights, and his bees will remain close prisoners till 

 the flowers of early May proclaim that spring has 

 come to stay. 



The following day, friends Markham and Palmer, 

 and myself, i-ode lour miles to visit Mr. Stanhope, 

 one of the most successful fruit and honey pro- 

 ducers of this section. His bees were snugly stored 



