GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



81 



During all this time we have been working 

 on larger machinery, but have hesitated about 

 saying any thing in print until we could have 

 some assurance that the new article was a 

 commercial possibility. While we are not fully 

 assured of it yet, we have turned out samples 

 large enough to fill sections, and have sent 

 them around to some prominent bee-keepers. 

 We have received quite a number of letters, 

 but will quote from only one of them. Here is 

 what Hon. Geo. E. Hilton says: 



Mr. Root:— The sample of new foundation comb 

 has arrived, and it is simply superb. I believe it 

 will produce comb honey that can't be beat. I liave 

 great faith in it. If it will grive us pkimp well-filled 

 sections, as 1 feel it will, the price will he no object. 



Fremont, Mich., Jan. 35. Geo. E. Hilton. 



This is only a sample of a lot of other let- 

 ters of a similar import. At present we are 

 able to turn out only samples to illustrate the 

 possibilities of the future. For 10 cts. in 

 stamps we will try to mail every applicant a 

 piece of the comb, providing we are not flooded 

 beyond the capacity of our outfit. In the 

 mean time we are at work on more elaborate 

 machinery. Until we know what this can do, 

 I will not say any more; suffice it, that we hope 

 in the near future to be able to supply, to a 

 limited extent for orders, drawn combs with 

 cell-walls as thin at the natural, having flat 

 cell-bottoms. And right here we found where 

 the cell-walls were deep and as thin as the 

 natural, that flat bases were as good as the 

 natural bases, and far easier for us to make. 



I need hardly add that the presiding genius 

 in the evolution of the new deep-cell founda- 

 tion is none other than E. B Weed, of founda- 

 tion fame. He has been working on the prob- 

 lem for years, but it was only within the last 

 two years that he struck the right track. That 

 he should stick and hang to this will-o'-the- 

 wisp of artificial comb in spite of repeated 

 failures, lack of funds, in the face of discour- 

 aging editorials in Gleanings, and other jour- 

 nals — well, the man should reap the rewards of 

 his labor. But more anon. 



Perhaps some may think there is nothing in 

 drawn comb, providing we can make it. I felt 

 so too, at first; but when I saw how the hees 

 felt about it. I changed my mind. Mr. Weed 

 was given the free use of the whole apiary to 

 test his new comb, and he demonstrated be- 

 yond a doubt that the bees would fill it with 

 honey immeclintely, and at the same time join 

 on their own comb, making the whole one ho- 

 mogenous mass; and the only way in which 

 the artificial could be detected from the natu- 

 ral was bv the cell bottom— the artificial being 

 flat.— Ed.] 



PEINCIPLES OF HONEY- CONSUMPTION ; POS- 

 SIBLE APPLICATIONS. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR SMALL TWO -OUNCE HONEY - 

 PACKAGES. 



By F. L. Tliompson. 



The contrast between the average man's con- 

 ception of honey as a delicacy, and his obtuse- 

 ness to the opportunity of buying it at the 

 grocery, is really painful. Why is it? Does 

 he not repeatedly crave, taste, and admire the 

 honey-comb on the table of his country cousin ? 

 Is not the opportunity to " rob " a wild swarm 

 hailed with rapturous delight by all who do 

 not know a drone from a worker? 



It is not entirely the fear of adulteration, for 

 the average man swallows quantities of glucose 

 without winking (and knows it too), in the 

 shape of " maple " syrup. Without pretending 

 to exhaust the subject, two considerations have 

 a bearing on this point. One is the pertinacity 

 with which said average man surfeits himself 

 on the rare occasions when he does eat honey. 

 The other is the smeary nature of honey itself. 

 Practically, the housewife and the eater should, 

 and perhaps do, handle honey dishes, knives, 

 and spoons without much trouble, with a little 

 care; but that is not the point; it is the idea, 

 as the woman said of the mouse. Honey, in 

 the popular mind, is very nice, but dreadfully 

 sticky— not that many go to the trouble to 

 think out all this, but a prejudice may be both 

 subtle and forcible at the same time. 



One remedy for stickiness would be to have 

 honey in the form of small confections, as 

 clean and easy to handle as gum-drops. "But 

 the honey taste?" There's the rub. Still, it is 

 worth thinking about. 



Honey candy is a superior article, but not 

 exactly honey. Granulated honey deserves 

 consideration. True, it can not be molded 

 like confectioners' sugar; but by watching a 

 can of honey until it is seen to be in the flrst 

 stages of granulation, then pouring it into 

 shallow pans duly greased or oiled, or lined 

 with paraffine paper, then setting away for a 

 few weeks, it may be cut up when hard (em- 

 ploying some care, so as not to split it in the 

 wrong place) into little nuggets, providing the 

 layers are not over 3^ or Jg" inch thick. These 

 may be wrapped in twists of parafBne paper 

 (with a soft motto inside, perhaps), and set 

 away in a cool place until disposed of. Most 

 grocers keep candies. Possibly a special grater 

 or masher would put hard granulated honey in 

 the right condition to make chocolate drops. 



This is not just the thing, either. It could 

 be done in Colorado, but I do not know whether 

 it would worK in a moist climate. Then, too, 

 some honeys do not granulate at all. and others 

 do not granulate in the right way for that pur- 

 pose. Unless coated with a foreign substance, 

 the product would still cause sticky fingers. 



Mr. F. Rauchfuss suggested to me lately that 

 a field which has never been worked is some 

 method of rendering granulated honey perfect- 

 ly dry, like what is left on the bottom-board of 

 a hive after the bees have robbed it out. This 

 would make an article very easy to handle and 

 ship, and perhaps extend its uses in confection- 

 ery. It might be done before granulation is 

 quite complete in some such way as molasses is 

 removed from loaf sugar. 



Still, granulated honey does not produce just 

 the same effect in the mouth as liquid honey. 

 After all, the most important requirement is to 

 fully satisfy the popular idea of honey. A few 

 years ago I procured a large size of gelatine 



