06 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



resident ill the city is in duty bound to emit a 

 hundred cubic feet of gas per minute, all 

 about the greatness of Chicago. If this gaseous 

 condition continues to augment, it is predicted, 

 by the oldest inhabitant, that the wonderful 

 tower to be erected will be completely envelop- 

 ed in this gaseous haze, and be utterly useless 

 as an obseivatory. 



After leaving the Auditorium I went directly 

 up Madison St. to tiie office of the -<4/»er(C(f7i 

 Bee J(iur)i(d. Upon entering this famous es- 

 tablishment I found confusion in every depart- 

 ment. I didn't know at first but too much 

 Chicago gas here had caused an explosion: but 

 I soon found the tiue cause. Our friend^ were 

 having a moving agony, and were going to 

 larger and more commodious quarters. Mr. 

 Newman is agenteel-appearing man of medium 

 height and breadth, and would be readily rec- 

 ognized by any one who has seen his photo in 

 the journals. The son Alfred is a chip fi-oni 

 the old block, as far as appearance is conceru(>d : 

 and beneath the exterior I have reason to know 

 there beats a kindly and fraternal heart. 



My first acquaintance with the American 

 Bee Journal dates back to about the fourth 

 volume, or when edited by its founder. Samuel 

 Wagner, and only a short time pi-evious to his 

 death. The old numbers of those early volumes 

 are carefully preserved. The editorials have a 

 scientific cast, showing that tlie founder had a 

 love for research, and a power to impart the 

 same spirit to others. The Ramblei-'s first es- 

 say in the interests of bee culture will be found 

 in these early volumes, over the name of 

 '■ Scientific." and not much science about them 

 either. Aftei- the death of Mr. Wagner I lost 

 interest in the journal until it was revived by 

 the present editor, since which time I have 

 been quite regularly its ])atron. The enter- 

 prise of the present editor needs no turther 

 comment than to refer to the fact that he was 

 the first to give the fraternity a weekly paper. 

 I do not know whether the editor ever becomes 

 discouraged or not: but between the grip and 

 the low price at which the paper is publishi'd it 

 would be no more than human if he did. 



Let us see — occupying the position it does in 

 the apicultural ranks, and the legal status it 

 has given to bee-keeping ihrough the Bee- 

 keepers' Union, its circulation should be great. 

 It costs the reader less than 2 cents per week. 

 Now. whatever circulation the journal may 

 have, I feel that an addition of ten thousand 

 more would give it such a boom that, though 

 valuable now, it would be enabled to become 

 doubly so. That such a state of things may be 

 accomplished is the wish of the 



Ramiu.ei!. 



[Gr.KAXiNRS desires to second your wish in 

 regard to the old Aiiiermm Bee Jijunial.] 



LADIES' Conversazione. 



CANDY FOR BEES. 



WHY A. X. drapp;k had bad i.uck with his 



candy; how to make cream candy 



for home consumption. 



After reading Mr. Drapers article on feeding 

 bees candy for winter. Dr. JNIiller wished me to 

 write .soiuetliing alioul: candy-making, not be- 

 cause I hav(> had any experience in making 

 candy for bees, but because I have had a good 

 deal of experience in making candy for our own 

 consumption, and he thought some of the 

 points might be of use just here. First, Mr. 

 Root, I turned to the A B C to read your in- 



structions for making. You say. "Into a tin 

 saucepan put some granulated sugar, with a 

 little water— a very little water will do."' When 

 I make candy I like to know exactly what pro- 

 portion of sugar and water to use." I think it 

 makes a great difference in results if you know. 

 You also say. •' Make it boil, and stir it.'' Do 

 you mean to stir it when boiling? I can hardly 

 believe you mean that, as I think it will inev- 

 itably give you just what you started with— 

 granulated sugar. I have often had it granu- 

 late without stirring, and cream of tartar in 

 it besides, while the slightest stirring when 

 boiling is sure to make it granulate. Some 

 sugar is worse about granulating than others. 



I suppose your bee-caady is what confection- 

 ers call "'creamed'' candy, which is used in 

 candy-making as the basis of a great many 

 different kinds. If properly creamed it will not 

 granulate, and will keep for a long time. In 

 making. I use 7 lbs. of sugar. 2 teaspoonfuls 

 cream of tartar, and three pints of water, or in 

 that proportion, and never stii' in the least 

 when boiling. Let it boil till it reaches the 

 ■' feathery " stage, as confectioners call it, which 

 is determined liy dipping a skimmer in the 

 syrup and blowing haid through it. Whenever 

 you can blow i^ubbles ihrough the holes in the 

 skimmer, it is done and must be taken from the 

 fire instantly. A great deal depends on taking 

 it off' at just the right time. 



I now tuin the syrup into a large bowl and 

 stir very hai'd until thdroughly creamed, when 

 it will be milk-white. If too hard it can be 

 mad(» softer by adding a few drops of water, 

 stirring it thoroughly. If too much water is 

 added, the candy will be too soft. 



I believe Mr. Draper made three mistakes. 

 First, he had too much sugar for the amount of 

 water used: second, he stirred wiu^n boiling; 

 third, he did not cook it enough. He says he 

 set the can with the syrup inside the kettle of 

 water, and water can be heated only to 2J2°; 

 and although I do not know how hot the syrup 

 must be before it reaclu^s the rijjrht point. I feel 

 pretty sure it is considi-rably hotier' than 2\2°. 

 I tliink syrup boils at a good deal higher tem- 

 perature than water. If you have some syrup 

 on the stove boiling, and let it cool down till 

 perfectly still, then drop a little cold water in 

 the syrup, that water immediately boils, show- 

 ing that the syrup must have Ix'en consid(>rably 

 above 212° before it stopped boiling. 



It was not only not sufficiently cooked, but. if 

 I understand Mr. Di'ai)er. the sugar was not all 

 dissolved, for he says. " ItiS pounds of sugar will 

 all dissolve: but in order to get it to harden 

 enough to haul to an out-apiary it is necessary 

 to put in from b") to 20 pounds more sugar,'" in- 

 timating that the sugar was not all dissolved. 



You say in your footnote. Mr. Editor, that his 

 candy was too hard. I don't see how it could 

 be too hard. It doesn't seehi to me it could be 

 called candy until it had had more cooking. 

 Wasn't it simply water with all the sugar stirred 

 in that it would dissolve, then a little more 

 sugar put in to thicken if? What was there to 

 prevent its being granulated sugar again when 

 the water evaporatecl 2 Isn't it the boiling 

 alone that mak(>s all the difference between wet 

 sugar and candy? Even if every thing else 

 had been right, I should imagine that stirring 

 when boiling would alone be sufficient to spoil it. 



Since writing th(> above I have just discover- 

 ed that you give fuller instructions for candy- 

 making on the next page of the A B C. On 

 page .57 you say. " Make it boil, and stir." which 

 seems to mean to stir while boiling. On page 

 .58 you say, "Take it olf the stove at once; and 

 as soon as it begins to harden around the side, 

 give it a good stirring, and keep it up until it 

 gets so thick you can just pour it." In this 



