1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



781 



thought of a gn'(Miliouse. Can it be evaporated 

 in a greenhouse before it would sour? I have 

 seen cream-separators at work taking the 

 cream out of milk. Won't the same thing take 

 the water out of thin honey? I should like to 

 see it tried. 

 Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



Well. now. seein' it's you I'll tell you just, 

 what rd do if I wanted to make the very best 

 kind of a job of it. In the first place, you must 

 understand that it takes heat and water for 

 fermentation. Td make all effort possible to 

 get all the water I could out of the honey. I'm 

 not sure that Td make any dlffenMice between 

 comb and extracted. I'd keep it in a place 

 where it would have the full benefit of the sun 

 —up near the roof, or in a building with thin 

 walls of dark color. Give plenty of ventilation, 

 so the evaporation from the honey can escape. 

 Wire cloth, of course. If nights are cold, or a 

 cold wet time comes. I'd close up. and perhaps 

 build a fire. If you've been thorough about it. 

 it will take care of itself in winter; but be sure 

 not to have it where steam will settle on it from 

 a warmer room. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Midler. 



Some of our funny fellows will probably tell 

 you to eat it up before it sours. As to extract- 

 ed, be careful and not extract it too green. 

 Then take immediate care to have its surface 

 exposed to a warm drying atmosphere, that it 

 may ripen up instead" of deteriorating. As to 

 sections, there are three things you can do. 

 You can see to it that they go speedily into the 

 hands of customers who will eat them up. You 

 can ripen them in a hot airy room. You can do 

 as I do — leave them on the hive until they are 

 ripe enough to be safe for keeping. Your hon- 

 ey will not look quite as well if you follow the 

 latter method: but if you sell steadily to the 

 same customers, the fact that your honey does 

 not spoil will count in your favor. I have in 

 mind one grocer who sometimes goes without 

 honey when he can not get a supply from me, 

 just because he has learned that extra-white 

 honev sometimes spoils on his hands. 



Ohio. N. W. E. E. Hasty. 



[There seems to be a uniformity of agreement 

 on this question: namely, keeping honey in a 

 warm dry room, and having it thoroughly rip- 

 ened before taking it from the hive. Mr. 

 Elwood makes a point, perhaps, that has not 

 been observed by many before. Honey is cer- 

 tainly deliquescent — that is. it seems to have the 

 property of taking up any moisture there may 

 be in the air. For that reason it should be put 

 as near as possible where there is no moisture.] 



Heads of Grain 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS 



FROM COLORADO: ALFALFA IIOXEY. ETC. 



Having been a gi-eat lover of bees for sevei-al 

 years. I concluded to start in this year for the 

 profit there is in the business, not for pleasure 

 alone. So when starting out I concluded to 

 keep a record (which I think every one ought 

 to). On the ITtti day of June, at noon I had 

 my first swarm in a hive ready for business, and 

 in nine weeks I had taken from that hive 3(5 

 one-pound sections of the finest alfalfa honey 

 that was ever put up. Besides this thev had 

 made 12 frames (odd size) full for brood- nest. 

 I took out three frames, and weighed them, and 

 found they weighed just i}4 lbs. each, making 



52 lbs. of brood comb, aad 3(5 of surplus. I find 

 it to be just 88 lbs., or a fraction less than 9 lbs. 

 per week. The rest of my apiary is in Wiscon- 

 sin, l^o - story eight-frame hives, but I don't 

 think I shall like them, on account of the bees 

 propolizing too much on them, and also making 

 a great deal of burr and brace combs, which I 

 find very inconvenient in iiandling the supers. 

 I think I shall try the Dovetailed hive next 

 season. 



I occasionally see something in Gleanixg.s 

 protesting lightly against alfalfa honey. But I 

 come boldly to its defense, and ask such per- 

 sons to just call around to my Platte Valley 

 apiary and taste some of the "most delicious. 

 mo.st beautiful, soul - satisfying nectar ever 

 gathered by the busy little bee. For my part, I 

 can't see any thing wrong with it whatever. 



I was very much interested with Bro. King's 

 communication from Arizona, in August 1st 

 Gleanings, and in his description of that love- 

 ly valley. I would ask him if he was ever 

 through the Platte (or Nebraska) Valley. It 

 very much reminds me of his description of 

 that one. insomuch that we irrigate, and raise 

 immense fields of alfalfa; yet the fruii bespoke 

 of is uot produced here, yet we far surpass any 

 other country for potatoes. The writer and 

 brother have in only thirty acres this year, 

 while a great many have in twice as many, and 

 some three times. Theo. V. Jessi^p. 



Greeley. Col.. Aug. 21. 



HOW TO get a colony OF BEES OFF THE 

 SPACE BETWEEN THE SIDINGS OF A HOUSE. 



I have a colony of bees in the north end of a 

 house. They are between the plastering and 

 outside boarding. They have been there since 

 about the 6th of .luly last. Below is a rough 

 diagram showing just how they are situated. 



I 

 .J 



I I 



^ is the point of entering, which is about 3-f 

 inch squaie. It is about 10 or 12 feet from the 

 ground. B is where they have made their 

 comb. Distance between plastering and out- 

 side boarding is 4 inches. They are pure Ital- 

 ians, and I wish to save them. How shall I go 

 at it to transfer them into an L. hive? 



O. C. Benedict. 

 Atlantic. Iowa, Aug. 30, 1891. 



[It is desirable not to mar the house, and 

 therefore I would suggest that, after removing 

 both window-sash, you cut out carefully that 

 part of the casing that is opposite the bees. 

 Willi a small bit. so as to make a small hole, 

 and a key-hole saw. j'ou can do the job so as 

 not to mutilate the woodwork. After smoking 

 the bees a little, proceed to cut out the combs 

 with a long knife (a bread-knife, say), and then 

 brush out and smoke out the bees. You prob- 



