1900 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



621 



gDlTORIAC 



I AM just now engaged in the fun of making 

 lanteru-slidts for stercoplicon work that is to 

 he given at the coming Chicago couveuiion. 



Elsewhere in this issue I give a program 

 ■of the next National convention, to be held 

 in Chicago on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of the 

 present month. It will be noted that there 

 will be fewer papers for each session than or- 

 dinarily given ; but the intention is to give 

 more time for the consideration of the Ques- 

 tion-box. There will be a set of live practical 

 ■questions prepared, and these questions will 

 be handled by such men as Dr. C C. Miller, 

 E. T. Abbott, Hon. R. L. Taylor, Dr. A. B. 

 Mason, O. O. Poppleton, and others. 



The frequent and copious rains that we have 

 been having every few^days, in our locality at 

 least, have made a magnificent growth of sweet 

 ■clover. This plant has now been in bloom for 

 nearly a month, and gives promise of being in 

 bloom for at least two weeks longer. The 

 bees in our locality have been busy on it from 

 9 o'clock on ; and at one of our out yards sweet 

 clover (what else can it be?) has made quite 

 a showing in the hives If we can only be 

 blest with a fall flow (and certainly all condi- 

 tions seem to favor it) the season will not be 

 so bad after all. 



THE HONEY SEASON AGAIN FOR 1900. 



Our friends have been kind enough to con- 

 tinue sending in reports from all portions of 

 the country. The revised outlook stands 

 about as in our last issue. There is very little 

 -change to make. Taking it all in all the 

 season is no better than last year, which was 

 ■considered poor, although there have been 

 special favored localities where quite large 

 crops of honey have been secured. 



extracting ; brushing bees off the 

 combs; uncapping 



As many leave their extracting until after 

 Ihe honey-flow when ; they will have more 

 lime, perhaps a few hints regarding the prac- 

 tices of the most extensive bee-keepers in the 

 country will be of value just now. I have 

 been present in a number of apiaries during 

 extracting time, and I will endeavor to give a 

 few of the methods that are used. 



The extractor should be of course anchored 

 down securely. As to whether it should be 

 elevated on a box high enough so the honey 

 can run into a barrel direct, seems to be some- 

 what of a question. It is urged that, when 

 the extractor is so high, it is very inconven- 

 ient to put in and remove the combs ; that the 

 machine should be low down where it can be 

 got at easily, even though it does necessitate 

 emptying a pail or other shallow vessel every 

 few minutes, that may be placed under the 



honey-gate. So far as I can gather, the ma- 

 jority of hone . -producers favor the lower ele- 

 vation (see illustration on page 608). As the 

 honey runs into the pail its quality, and wheth- 

 er or not it has dirt in it, dead bees, or parti- 

 cles of wax, can be easily seen at a glance. 

 True it is that a strainer can be placed over 

 the gate to catch every thing in the form of 

 loose particles of foreign matter. But if the 

 honey runs into a pail, its specific gravity can 

 be told by the way it runs out of the gate. 



Where square cans and kegs are used, large 

 funnels are placed in the tops, or bungholes ; 

 and the honey, as fast as it is extracted, is pour- 

 ed directly into the marketing -packages. 



In California and in the West, where the 

 liquid article is produced by the carload, it is 

 the practice, wherever possible, to have the ex- 

 tractor-building on the edge of a side hill — 

 the building to consist of a basement, or low- 

 er story, on a level with the bottom of the hill, 

 and a second story on a level with the top of 

 the hill. In this case the combs are run into 

 the building into the second story, or what 

 might be called the first floor. Tae extractor 

 is mounted on the floor, being securely anchor- 

 ed. A pipe leading from the honey-gate con- 

 nects with a large receiving-tank of 5000 or 

 10,000 lbs. capacity below, said tank being 

 raised up just high enough to allow the honey 

 to flow into cans of 60 lbs. capacity. Where 

 the conditions in the lay of the land favor 

 such a structure, it is by all odds the most 

 convenient. 



I have in mind one apiary where the combs 

 are run down a slight grade from the apiary 

 into the first floor of the extracting-house. 

 The honey is extracted, and run directly from 

 the extractor into a receiving vat just below. 

 Here it is drawn off into square cans, and the 

 latter are loaded on to the wagon, ready for 

 the market. 



A great deal will depend upon how exten- 

 sively one is engaged in the business, as to 

 which method he will adopt. It was our prac- 

 tice, years ago, to elevate the extractor enough 

 to run the honey directly into the barrel ; but 

 I now know that the bungs had a fashion in 

 some cases of pushing out because of a little 

 thin honey mixed with the other. This thin- 

 ner honey would rise to the top and cause a 

 ferment. I believe it is becoming less and 

 less the practice to barrel honey, and more 

 and more to put it in square cans. 



about GETTING BEES OFF THE COMBS. 



In these days of perfected bee escapes, it 

 seems like folly to think of brushing and 

 shaking ; but where out-yards are located 

 miles from home it is very often inconvenient 

 to make two trips — one to put on the escape- 

 boards and the other to take off the honey a 

 day or two afterward. As I have already stat- 

 ed, Mr. Coggshall's practice is to smoke the 

 bees down in the super or top story by flap- 

 ping the quilt on top of the extracting-frames 

 while the smoker is being worked. This 

 causes the smoke to drive the bees, at least 

 half of them, down into the brood-nest. The 

 frames are next shaken when half drawn from 

 the super, and la&t of all brushed with a long 

 whisk-broom having the strands thinned out. 



