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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



crowded. Different seasons require diffei'ent 

 management. Tiiis year we put on 12's and 

 iiad our laboi' for oiir pains, ov nearly so, as 

 very few sections have been finished. Although 

 a few colonies have stored a little, the most of 

 them have left the sections just as they were 

 when we put them on, and a viM'y few colonies 

 have done some emptying out. 



When it is decided that the bees can not be 

 induced to do any further finishing, what then? 

 Is it best to extract, or to sell at a sufficiently 

 low price to find ready sale? 'I suspect it is 

 pretty safe to say that sections having only a 

 small amount of honey in them are best fed 

 back to the bees. EiMMA Wilson. 



Marengo, 111., Sept. 19. 



IIf)W A LADY MANAGES SWARMS WHILE HER 

 HITSIJAND IS ABSENT. 



The editor wishes to 'know how the lady bee- 

 keeper manages In swarming time when her 

 husband is absent. My husband works out by 

 the day, and we use chaff hives. The queens 

 are clipped. When a swarm issues I cage the 

 queen, swing the hive around on one corner 

 backward, turning the entrance in the opposite 

 direction to what it was formerly, and put an 

 empty hive with frames on the old stand. 

 When the swarm returns I let the queen run in. 

 Sometimes I have to cover the old hive or the 

 bees would Hnd their way back again. Then 

 when my husband comes home we put the old 

 hive where it is to stand. We are not troubled 

 with second swarms. Mrs. Wm. D. Kratz. 



Lawndale, Pa., Aug. 20. 



With Replies from our best Autiiorities on BeeSc 



Question 193. Hmv can I keep lumcy, thnt 

 was e.rtrdctecl in the su7nmer,fro)n souring f 

 How can I keep comb honey from souring ? 



By evaporating it. By curing it in a warm 

 room. 

 Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



If you keep honey of any kind in a diy, warm 

 place it will never sour. 

 Ohio. S. W. C. F. MuTH. 



1. Ripen it by evaporation. 2. Put it into a 

 dry, airy place as soon as taken from the hive. 

 Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boardman. 



No trouble from any kind of honey souring if 

 kept in a temperature of from 75 to 9.5°, where 

 the atmosphere is dry. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



Ripen your honey before putting it away. 

 Use an evaporator, or expose it to the sun in 

 ^shallow vessels until ripe. 



Louisiana. E. C. P. L. Viallon. 



By evaporating thoroughly. If necessary, 

 keep it in the sun extractor until it is thick and 

 ropy. About comb honey, I do not know. 



'^~'' ■ S. R. Wilkin. 



ropy. 



California. 



Be sure that the extracted honey is thick. If 

 not so, keep it in a very warm room in open 

 ves.sels till it is. All honey should be kept in a 

 ■dry room, and, if possible, in a warm one. Never 

 keep in a damp room. 



Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



Well-ripened comb or extracted honey will 

 not sour if kept in a dry place, and both are 



better, and will keep well, if kept in a dry and 

 ivarm place, where they should always be kept. 

 Extracted honey that will sour in such a place 

 should be called sweetened water. 

 Ohio. N. VV. A. B. Mason. 



Honey that has been propei-ly ripened, either 

 before or after being tak-en from the hive, and 

 tiien kept where it will not absorb moisture 

 from the atmosphere, will never sour. This ap- 

 plies to both comb and extracted honey. Keep 

 honey where it is always dry and warm. 



Illinois. N. C. J. A. Green. 



It will not sour if fully ripe when extracted. 

 There is sometimes a slight alcoholic fermenta- 

 tion in the upper layer that causes expansion, 

 but this is readily evaporated by melting au 

 hain-uiaric. If we had unripe honey we would 

 evaporate it in this way also, and it would not 

 ferment. 



Illinois. N. W. Dabant & Son. 



If good honey is stored in a warm dry room 

 there will be no danger from souring. In my 

 (^arly days in bee-keeping, if I put comb honey 

 into the cellar it would gather damjjness, and 

 ooze from the cells; and in a close closet it 

 would do the same. Since I keep honey, either 

 comb or extracted, in a wai'm ventilated room, 

 I've foi'gotten such a thing ever happens. 



Illinois. N. W. C. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



If the honey was properly ripened there 

 would be no danger of its souring. I would 

 store in a warm dry room, in half-barrels stand- 

 ing on end, with the cork out of the hole in the 

 end. The sour honey will rise to the top and 

 can be turned off, leaving good honey under it. 

 Comb honey should also be kept in a mild dry 

 room. You must have a very sour country up 

 your way. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



Keep it anywhere but in a damp place: and 

 if it sours, then the trouble is in the bee-keeper. 

 Honey should not be extracted until properly 

 ripened; and comb honey should not be taken 

 from the hives until sealed. Honey is deliques- 

 cent, and this affinity for water is why honey 

 becomes thin when kept in a damp place. This 

 is also the trouble with the barrels shrinking — 

 the honey takes the water out of the wood. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



The way to keep honey from souring is to put 

 it in a dry place. The cooler the better, of 

 course: but the trouble is, cool places are not 

 dry. I put mine in air-tight tin cans as soon as 

 settled, and put them into a cool cellar. Then 

 I get a low temperature without moisture, for 

 moisture can not get through tin. I guess the 

 trouble is, your comb and extracted honey is 

 too thin when you take it from the bees. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



Don't extract it till it is ripe enough, then it 

 will not sour; but if it is necessary to take some 

 thin honey, to be ready for a better quality, 

 you can improve it somewhat by setting it in 

 wide-mouthed vessels in a room kept hot and 

 ventilated, or put in the sun. Comb honey can 

 be improved by keeping it in a Avarm room. 

 How long it would improve, I can hardly tell. 

 Some that I have tried two or three years seems 

 to be still improving. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. I. Freeborn. 



Keep it In a warm and dry place; then if the 

 honey was ripe and thick it won't sour. Honey 

 sours because there is too much water in it. 

 But how to get the water out of thin honey is a 

 question I should like to see answered. I have 



