1884 



GLE2\.N1NG« IN BEE (JULTUKE. 



—lor a w hoi u inoiitli. All this time, or a greater 

 j).;rt of it, they were clustered out, and appeared 

 to be mostly asleev); others appeared to be attend- 

 in<r a gymnastic school held on the alighting-board : 

 trying who could stand longest on his head seemed 

 to be the princijial exercise. What did we do? 

 Well, the great majority "let 'em went." Hut I 

 was determined not to lose the great honey-tlow, 

 and I tiered up on them two and some eventually 

 three stories high above the brood-chamber. Did 

 that make them seal it upV No, not worth a cent. 

 They sealed it upwlieii they got ready. But, oh 

 liow they did pile up the honey then: 



We also traded 40 hives tor 40 new swarms a mile 

 Irom here. They are there yet; 'M of them gave us 

 IMSOlbs. comb honey, and the rest filled their 

 In-ood-chambers. We caught si.v swarms, and so 

 have in all 115 swarms to begin the season on. The 

 bees are still gathering enough to live on— a most 

 extraordinary thing in this country at this time of 

 year. 



In two months, more or less, we shall have plenty 

 ot tlowers, and so you see the bees will have but 

 a short rest. The season "generally ends July 1st 



t<J 15th. .1. P. ISKAEI.. 



San Dieguito, tal., Oct. II, 1SX4. 



AVhy. friend 1.. is it really possible liiat 

 you made over oS? lbs. of comb honey from 

 each of those IS starvinp: colonies? What 

 do the men around there How say about the 

 ■' bee-lunatic'" y Well, well, all these things 

 go to show that (Jod in his great mercy 

 seems to think best to scatter the honey o\'er 

 different localities, first here and then there; 

 one year in York State, and then in Canada, 

 and then in Jowa ; next in Louisiana, and 

 this year in Florida and California. Well, 

 the i'ork-State folks, and Canada folks, the 

 greater part of them, will have to content 

 themselves l)y being happy to see their far- 

 off neighbors roll m the" dollars. A great 

 moral stands out here sharp and clear — hold 

 on to yoiu" bees ; take good care of them by 

 feeding sugar (we are doing tliat very thing 

 now; but it costs us only between '»> and 7 

 cts. in New York, granulated at that), so we 

 can stand it ; and when the honey comes, 

 have your bowl right side up. and do not let 

 it run over to waste. 



have 

 fall. 



EXTRACTING IN COLD WEATHER. 



f.Sl.NG STEA.M TO W.VK.M THE HO.VlOV IN THE COMBS. 



LKANINOS lor Oct. 1st is just received. 1 

 liave had the same experience as James Mc- 

 Neill, page f.5S. For the last 5 years, since 

 moving to this i)lace, when; it is much colder 

 than at Los Angeles, my former i-esidcnce, I 

 had ditliculty in extracting the honey in the 

 1 used to take tlu- caps oil the hi\es during 

 October, generally after the first cold spell. I took 

 OH' every forenoon as many as 1 could cxti-act dur- 

 ing the remainder of the day. If the honey was 

 left in the combs over night in tlie house, it was al- 

 most impossible to extract it the following day. 

 Many a time, when delayed by other work, have F 

 l>een extracting till 10 and II o'clock at night, in or- 

 der to finish up the combs I had in the house. Even 

 then many coml)s wert^ put away only partially ex- 

 tracted, as mentioned by Mi'. M(;.\eill. 'fhis fall 

 I commenced taking the cajis oflOnc monlli earlier 



than usual, to avoid this trouble, and to get through 

 with the extracting, while there were still plenty of 

 fall flowers in bloom, and before the bees showed 

 any inclination to rob. When about two thirds 

 through there came a si)ell of cold, cloudy, windy, 

 disagreeable weather, which, in connection with 

 other business, prevented me from taking honey 

 ott' for more than a week. When the weather mod- 

 erated, and I commenced again, I found that the 

 honey had become so thick in the combs that it 

 could not be extracted— not the faintest sprinkle. 

 In despair I was about to store the full combs from 

 ;50 hives away until next sunnner, when I hai)i)ened 

 to think of a suggestion I had seen once or twice in 

 Gleanings; viz., steaming the combs. Taking 

 down the large can, which holds my di|)i)ing-boiler 

 for comb foundation, I placed it on the stove, 

 poured in boiling water till it covered the bottom 

 one-half inch or more, hung two combs in the can 

 with their shoulders resting on the top edge, and 

 covered the whole with a single thickness of cott'ee 

 sacking-. 1 kept up a moderate fire. When the cap- 

 ping commenced to feel pretty soft I took out one 

 comb and immediately put in another. Afteruncap- 

 ping the first comb, and placing it in the extractor, 1 



] tookoutthesecond,replacingthat withanother. The 



I experiment worked admirably. After getting the 

 extractor up to full speed, and not a very high speed 

 either. 4 to B revolutions of the reel would throw the 

 bulk of the honey out in large drops. A few more 

 turns threw out the rest in a tine spray, and the 



j combs were emptied as etfectually as if they had 



j contained new, thin, unsealed honey. 



By iiroeeeding as aliove described, it will be seen 

 that each comb is steamed just the length of time it 

 takes to uncap and extract two combs. The steam- 

 ing does not heat the honey perceptibly, but warms 

 it just enough to make it extract easily. On laying 

 my hand fiat on the uncapped surface of a comb, to 

 test the temperature, it felt neither warm nor cold 

 to the touch. After the honey has been in the ex- 

 tractor or tank over night it will be as thick as be- 

 foi-e. This solves the difficulty then, and after this 

 my " peace of mind " shall not be disturbed by any 

 trouble about extracting in cold weather. 



Like Mr. McNeill, I lia\e tried retui-ning the 

 combs after the last extractiitg, to get them cleaned 

 otl' by the bees, but found it unsatisfactoi-y. Kither 

 the bees would not touch the combs at all, or the>- 

 would store the honey in i)atches, which had to 1 <■ 

 extracted again. It is also certain to induce or ag- 

 gravate robbing. 1 find that leaving the combs 

 covered with the film of honey (naturally adhering 

 to them after extracting) is a protection against the 

 ravages of the moth worms. They will not work in 

 the sticky honey. Of course, it is a little more work 

 to steam the combs, but the extra honey 1 secure 

 thereby ami)ly repays me. That single suggestion 

 in (iLKANiNfiS )ii-oves how valuabk' a bee-|)aper is 

 to the apiarist, and how we are all indebted to <'acli 

 other for knowledge, progress, and success. 



Wm. Mctu-Kasmcssi;n. 

 Independence, Cal.. Oct. 11, fSt. 



Thanks, friend M. The snggcstioti you 

 give us wasconnnunicatcd bv a friend wiiosc 

 name I can not. now recall; but with the 

 light thrown on the subject from friend Doo- 

 little"s article, in coiniection with yoius, it 

 seems to promise to become a very important 

 matter, because it will enable us'to give the 

 public riper honey than perhaps they have 



