1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



599 



and 13th we had heavy showers, and I fear the pros- 

 pect will be poor for honey throughout the South. 



O. M. B. 



Many tbanks, old friend, for giving us the 

 facts, even though the facts are a little de- 

 pressing. I am glad to know, however, 

 that there is such a field for occupation, and 

 I presume for capital also, in your Southern 

 State. I am sorry, however, to find that 

 honey-dew has made its appearance with 

 you as well us in some other localities dur- 

 ing this rainy season. Your remarks are 

 rather encouraging to our colored friends, 

 even if they are a little discouraging to the 

 white laborer. I think the time is coming, 

 friend B.,when your State and those ad- 

 joining will have their resources better de- 

 veloped than at the present time. I often 

 think of the miles and miles of the most 

 beautiful farming region I ever passed over, 

 that seems to lie year after year in compara- 

 tive neglect. It seems a little strange, how- 

 ever, that there should be such a universal 

 dearth of honey, the nation over. 



JOHN'S VISIT TO THE HOME OP THE 

 DADANTS. 



THE WAY FOUNDATION IS MADE AT THE LARGEST 



ESTABLISHMENT FOR THE PURPOSE. ON 



THE FACE OP THE EARTH. 



J HAVE just been attending the national 

 convention of Young People's Societies 

 of Christian Endeavor which met in 

 Chicago 4000 strong, the largest and 

 most enthusiastic religious gathering of 

 modern times, and, I believe, with the most 

 practical, far-reaching, and beneficent ob- 

 ject. Having a couple of days at my dispos- 

 al I improved the o])portunity to make a 

 visit to Messrs. Dadant & Son, who are 

 renowned for their unecjualed comb founda- 

 tion, and that renown is well deserved too ; 

 for when I saw how much care they exer- 

 cised in the making of it from first to last, I 

 was not surprised at their immense sales, 

 amounting to about MO tons in the season of 

 I8>s7. Their plan of making their workmen 

 share in the profits of the year's business, I 

 believe was no small part toward securing 

 the perfection they have attained. 



When I reached Keokuk, Iowa, just 

 across the river from Hamilton, I concluded 

 that I could walk over and reach there in a 

 short time. When I had crossed, however, 

 I found that they lived from two to two and 

 one-half miles out in the country. They 

 had been having very wet wertlier in this 

 region, and the road was very muddy, so 

 that you may guess 1 had " a picnic.'' The 

 cordial welcome I received well repaid my 

 weaiy march, and I felt at home at once. 



Messrs. Dadants' home and factory are 

 situated about one mile east of the Missis- 

 sippi, and back in a pleasant grove about a 

 quarter of a mile from the road. It is a 

 cosy spot, and quite secure from intruders. 

 In fact, they are right in the midst of the 

 woods, and one has to look sharp to see the 

 place at all. I reached there about 11 

 o'clock, and, after making myself look as 

 presentable as possible after my tramp 

 through the wet grass across the fields, I 



found Mr. C. P. Dadant at work in the pack- 

 ing-room of the factory. I had no sooner 

 made myself known than all work was 

 dropped, and I was entertained and made 

 to feel at home at once. After a few mo- 

 ments' greeting with his father, Mr. Charles 

 Dadant, we proceeded to look over the cele- 

 brated foundation-factoiy. We first visited 

 the building where the wax is received, 

 assorted, and clarified. In this building 

 is a large scale on which the wax is 

 weighed when received from the de- 

 pot; and while it is being emptied from 

 the packages it is assorted into two bins, 

 one of them for light section foundation, 

 and the other for brood foundation. It is 

 next put into a large copper tank iiolding 

 about 1200 or loOO lbs , and melted. In this 

 tank is first placed se\eral inches of water. 

 The wax is drawn from a faucet a little 

 above the water, into long cans about a foot 

 in diameter at tlie top, ten inches at the 

 bottom, and 20 inches deep. These cans are 

 set in a cupboard at the side of the room, 

 which is made with double walls and doors, 

 so as to keep the wax in a melted state as 

 long as possible. Sometimes it remains 

 melted over 48 hours. This allows the im- 

 purities to settle to the bottom, .to be scrap- 

 ed off when the cakes become hard. No 

 matter how nice the wax may be, every 

 pound is subjected to this melting process, 

 which is regarded of great importance. 

 You know they guarantee every inch of 

 their foundation equal to the sample in 

 every respect. To do this they must have 

 foundation of uniform color, and this can 

 be easily managed by melting up a large 

 quantity of wax in one body, thus making 

 it all alike. Each tankful is chosen from 

 the wax-bin in such a way as to produce 

 about the same color each time — that is, if 

 there happens to be quite a good deal of 

 dark wax, considerable light wax must be 

 put in with it to make a uniform color each 

 time. Then, again, it serves to eliminate a 

 great deal of impurity from the wax, which 

 would otherwise be made into foundation. 

 These large cakes of wax are stored away in 

 a separate building which is made of iron, 

 and is fire-proof. This building is very 

 small, but represents a good deal when full 

 of wax. Ft is situated apart from the other 

 buildings, so as to lessen the danger from fiie. 

 We next pass into the dipping-room, which 

 is one of the rooms in the main building. 



We have had a rude engraving made to 

 help you to understand the operations I will 

 next describe. Owing to delay in getting a 

 photograph, we could not give the engrav- 

 ers veiy much time ; but if they have not 

 produced a very elaborate picture, we can at 

 least get the ideas we want from it. For 

 dipping, a common wash - boiler is used, 

 with a common wash-tub on one side, and a 

 tempering-tank on the other, which I be- 

 lieve is made of wood. A wash-tub might 

 also be used here. These are represented 

 by numbers (>, 7, and o in the engraving. 

 No. o holds tepid water, and No. 7 cold wa- 

 ter, and the melted wax, of course, is in the 

 wash-boiler. The wax is sup])lied by dip- 

 ping from a melting-boiler on a stove near 

 by. For sheets of wax the right size for 



