1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



357 



below the boiling-point if stirred and thorough - 

 1}- mixed, and, of course, the larger the quan- 

 tity the longer it takes to raise the whole mass 

 to the boiling temperature. Experience has 

 shown that it is not safe in every case to de- 

 pend upon 10 or 15 minutes' boiling. Several 

 boilings would be better, but not so convenient 

 to the ordinary bee-keeper. The rationale of 

 this is that, at the first boiling, all the devel- 

 oped bacilli are destroyed; then suppose a nu- 

 trient medium and other favorable conditions 

 to exist in the honey, the unaffected spores 

 would germinate into bacilli, and could be de- 

 stroyed in the next boiling. A third and even 

 a fourth boiling might be necessary to destroy 

 the remainder. Fading this method of pro- 

 cedure, it is safer, with our present knowl- 

 edge of the behavior of spores, and taking 

 into consideration the appliances at the com- 

 mand of the average bee-keeper, to insist on 

 prolonged boiling. 

 April 18, 1899. 



[Mr Cowan did not go on to tell of his ex- 

 periments to prove his statements above. 

 These statements, coming as they do, from, I 

 verily believe, our best authority on the sub- 

 ject in hand, ought to settle the matter that it 

 is not safe to feed diseased honey back to bees 

 that has been boiled only 15 minutes. 



Instead of recommending three hours' boil- 

 ing, I shall recommend an hour's boiling at 

 three different times. After all, it seems to 

 me utter folly to extract honev from foul- 

 broody combs because of the great danger in 

 the process. It is far better to burn them en- 

 tire — frames, brood, honey, and all — and then 

 bury the ashes where neither plow nor spade 

 will ever touch them. I would err, if at all, 

 on the safe side. — Ed.] 



• MUMH I * ■ 



RAMBLE 166. 



Portland, Oregon. 



BY RAMBLER. 



Between showers I made a very pleasant 

 call upon Mr. Buell Lamberson, who is pro- 

 prietor of a large store for the sale of seeds, 

 agricultural implements, and bee-keepers' 

 supplies. Here I found a full line of the Root 

 supplies, and Mr. Lamberson is headquarters 

 in that line for Oregon and Washington, and 

 has sold as high as two carloads in one season. 

 He said that bee-keepers were well pleased 

 with the supplies, and that the Root hive was 

 preferred to the home-made; but owing to the 

 cheapness of lumber it is a dollars-and-cents 

 argument that makes the home-made Oregon 

 hive take the lead. Although there is a 

 healthful trade in supplies, Oregon does not 

 produce a great amount of honey. 



A very good way to diagnose the healthful- 

 ness of the honey production and bee business 

 generally in any State or location is to find 

 out how many carloads are shipped out. If, 

 instead of snipping out, there are carloads 

 shipped in, the industry is not upon a very 

 strong commercial footing, and that is the 

 present condition in Oregon. 



California honey is in evidence in many of 

 the groceries, both comb and extracted. The 

 latter is put up in neat screw-top tumblers 

 with a piece of comb honey surrounded with 

 a liquid, presumably honey, and perhaps it is. 

 Honey from Utah and Nevada also finds its 

 way into this portion of the country. 



While I give an occasional glance from my 

 fifth-story window I realize that I am in one 

 of the most thriving cities of my native land. 

 The population is over 80,000. It is a port of 

 entry for the largest ocean vessels, and the 

 various craft plying on the river-front present 

 a busy scene. The trade in grain, lumber, 

 wool, etc., is immense. 



At the date of my visit the city was shorn 

 of much of its beauty, for the falling leaves 

 left the many trees unadorned. The moist 

 and sticky condition of the streets was not 

 pleasant ; but being used to dry streets and 

 plenty of dust and evergreen trees in Califor- 

 nia, the change seemed agreeable. When the 

 clouds lifted enough, Mount Hood appeared 

 in the distance with its pure white snow-clad 

 peak. It is the boast of the good people of 

 Portland that five of these snow-clad peaks 

 can be seen at all times of the year when the 

 weather is fair. I barely saw Mt. Hood, 

 which proves that the weather was very un- 

 fair to me. 



I spent a very agreeable Sunday in Portland. 

 The Congregational church, where I attended, 

 was well filled, and with as fine an array of 

 fashionable fall bonnets as can be anywhere 



found. But the most agreeable service was at 

 the Y. M. C. A. in the afternoon. There were 

 a few bald pates, but not a bonnet ; and let 

 me tell you Portland has a Y. M. C. A. that is 

 worthy of emulation. It has 1000 members. 

 Surely such a body of well-meaning moral 

 young men is not without a leavening influence 

 upon the city. I might tell you much more 

 about this thriving city, but I must hasten 

 along to the State of Washington. 



I first placed my feet on the soil of this 

 great State by running out on the electric-car 



