1888 



GLEANIJSGS la BEE CULTURE. 



605 



showed a little cracking of the comb away from the 

 wood of the section; but I think not such as would 

 cause leaking. At any rate there was no sign of 

 leaking, and no cracks across the face of the comb. 

 (Did you ever notice that sections cracked by freez- 

 ing are generally cracked diagonally?) Upon being 

 cut into, this honey showed no sign of granulation, 

 but was very clear and very thick. There was no 

 appearance of any impairment of flavor. On the 

 contrary, it was unusually fine, there being perhaps 

 the same difference between that and ordinary 

 comb honey that there is between ordinary extract- 

 ed honey and that which is e.xtra thick and well ri- 

 pened. This honey had also been kept in the garret. 

 Now, what was the secret? Was it in the character 

 of the honey or in the way In which it was kept? I 

 suspect that the whole secret lay in the fact that 

 the honey had been kept directly under the roof in 

 an intensely hot place, giving it a thorough evapo- 

 rating or ripe>u»)(7. Both lots of honey had been 

 subjected to a very low temperature, probably 

 much below zero at times. It is, I think, the com- 

 mon opinion that freezing injures honey and causes 

 it to candy. Is the common opinion correct? Part- 

 ly, I think. The effect of freezing upon ditferent 

 liquids is by no means the same. Perhaps I ought 

 to say the effect of cold. If water freezes, when it 

 thaws it is again water. If ink, such as was com- 

 mon years ago, freezes, upon thawing it is no long- 

 er ink, but a permanent change has taken place in 

 its character, and it is worthless. If an apple 

 freezes, when it thaws it is not the same as before; 

 but a frozen dried apple, upon thawing, is just as 

 good as ever. Now, in the process of drying, there 

 must be a certain point reached when it is dry 

 enough so that it will not rot, and so that freezing 

 will not injure it. Is it not possible that somewhat 

 the same thing holds true with regard to honey? 

 May it not be dried down to such a point that a zero 

 temperature will produce no change in its struc- 

 ture? I think it is a fact that comb honey is slower 

 to granulate than extracted. Why? Because it is 

 sealed up? Possibly, but I suspect there is a differ- 

 ence, aside from the sealing. We all know that 

 most sealed honey will granulate if kept cold 

 enough, and we know that some extracted honey 

 granulates more slowly than some sealed comb 

 honey. Evidently the sealing does not make all the 

 difference. You remember, Mr. Root told us about 

 some very fine extracted honey which never granu- 

 lated, although subjected to a very low tempera- 

 ture, but remained remarkably transparent at all 

 times. Is it not possible that the only peculiarity 

 about that honey was that it was thoroughly dried 

 down, evaporated— ripened, if you please? 



Don't understand me as saying that I know about 

 it, but 1 suspect that the principal secret of keep- 

 ing either comb or extracted honey consists In dry- 

 ing it suflHciently, so that, if enough water be In the 

 honey, upon reaching a sufficiently low tempera- 

 ture the water will separate from the 'aoney, and 

 crystallize, leaving the sugary parts to become 

 solid; whereas if the water present be in suflHcient- 

 ly small quantity, no such change will take place. 

 But to have the honey in right condition for keep- 

 ing, I think it must be dried before any Injurious 

 action has taken place. I have kept extracted hon- 

 ey in a garret where, on a hot summer day, the 

 heat was insufferable; and upon the advent of cold 

 weather it granulated. Perhaps that was because 

 it was closely tied in stone crocks which prevented 



evaporation. All that I have said agrees with Doo- 

 little in strongly advocating the keeping of honey 

 in a building affected by the heat of the sun, with 

 plenty of chance for evaporation. At the risk of 

 disagreeing with some good authorities, I have 

 some doubts about honey ripening any better in 

 the hive than out— at least, the last part of the ri- 

 pening. I suspect it is evaporation, pure and sim- 

 ple, that ripens honey, and that would be the same 

 whether done by bees or by other means. 

 Marengo, 111. C. C. Milleu. 



There, old friend, you struck the nail on 

 the head exactly, I do believe. Why, we 

 shall have to call you a scientist too, if you 

 don't stop showing so mucli depth of re- 

 search. It never occurred to me before, but 

 I do remember now that the white-sage 

 honey and the alsike honey that never can- 

 died were ripened so as to be very thick in- 

 deed ; and the alsike that we have made 

 such a fuss about, furnished by friend 

 Goodrich, was ripened by artificial means, 

 heating it just as hot as it would bear, with- 

 out injuring the comb and tiavov. Now, 

 then, to your point— getting rid of the wa- 

 ter by evaporation, so as to enable fruit, 

 honey, and other things to stand a zero tem- 

 perature without injury. In sugar-making, 

 when the contents of the crocks or tin pails 

 is frozen almost solid, in the bottom of the 

 pail or in the center of the block of ice will 

 be found a small quantity of syrup, so thick 

 and sweet that it w ill not freeze. In fact, 

 no ordinary temperature will freeze it, when 

 it becomes sufficiently thick ; and this maple 

 syrup, reduced by severe cold instead of 

 heat, is frequently as light-colored as honey, 

 and of most delicious flavor. G. M. Doolittle 

 has long urged the importance of ripening 

 comb honey so the unsealed cells will not 

 drip or daub. This same ripening will pre- 

 vent injury from freezing, and very likely 

 do away with this disagreeable matter of 

 candying in the comb. If practice sustains 

 this theory, we shall owe you a vote of 

 thanks, old friend. 



GRAPEVINE FLEA-BEETLE. 



HOW TO DESTROY THEM. 



fHE dark-brown grubs, or larvfe, sent by Mr. 

 J. J. McCoy, Mt. Erie, 111., are well known to 

 me, and this year must be very common and 

 destructive, as I hear of them as serious 

 pests from several States. They are flea- 

 beetles, Haltica chalybca. The beautiful small blue 

 beetle comes just as the buds are swelling, an<l oft- 

 en do very serious harm by eating the buds. When 

 approached they jump like a locust, or flea, and 

 hence the generic name, Haltica, and the common 

 name, flea-beetle. These beetles can be killed easi- 

 ly and cheaply by spraying with London purple. 

 The beetles lay their orange eggs on the young 

 leaves or twigs and stems; and when the little six- 

 footed grubs come forth they take ravenously to 

 the foliage, and, as Mr. McCoy says, do terrible in- 

 jury. These sKeletonize the leaves. These can also 

 be killed by use of the arsenites, and we have 

 found the kerosene and soap mixture, which I rec- 

 ommend to destroy plant-lice, also effective. 

 Agricultural College, Mich. A. .1. Cook. 



Friend Cook, I had always supposed that 



