19()4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULIURH 



2^ 



I put in a Koot extractor 150 lbs. of can- 

 died (or partly- candied) honey. The ex- 

 tractor is then placed about 20 inches above 

 the floor, or high enough so that an oil- 

 stove can be used under the extractor, and 

 yet not come too near the metal to burn the 

 honey, as you know that overheating de- 

 stroys the flavor of honey. The honey is 

 thoroughly me|-ed, or dissolved, and then 

 heated to a temperature of about 125°. It 

 is then drawn off into bottles, and quicklj- 

 corked up or sealed with the cork stopper 

 only. I never use any thing to seal the bot- 

 tles. I then place the bottles in a place 

 where the hone}- will keep warm until I 

 have a chance to dispose of it. 



I had an idea that this part of the process 

 was what caused the honey to retain the 

 liquid state. Some two years ago I found 

 that the heating process was the secret of 

 preserving honey, provided it was "corked 

 up " while hot. 



Honey treated as above will keep in the 

 liquid state a long time. I do not think this 

 process will have much effect on some kinds 

 of honey — goldenrod, for instance. I think 

 it a good idea for those bee-keepers who sell 

 honey, either at retail or to the grocers, to 

 inform them how to keep the honey after 

 they have purchased it. I never fail to tell 

 all my patrons to keep the honey in a warm 

 dry place. About the first thing purchas- 

 ers of honey do is to put it in the cellar, 

 both comb and bottled honey. I sold a gro- 

 cer some bottled honey a few days ago. He 

 said he had some honey in the comb in his 

 cellar. One of the clerks was sent for it. 

 It was in pound sections, and all of it look- 

 ed as though it had been taken out of brine. 



By heating honey as above stated I find 

 it very easy to run it into bottles. I can fill 

 100 bottles in less than half an hour. The 

 fact is, cold honey can not be put in bottles 

 at all. When m}' honey is hot enough to 

 work all right I just put the bottles within 

 easy reach at my left; fill them and place 

 them on my right. I take a seat in front of 

 the tank; and as one bottle is filling I drive 

 a cork in the previous bottle, and at the 

 same time set another bottle ready to place 

 under the faucet when one is removed. It 

 takes but a very short time to run 150 lbs. 

 of honey into 5^ -lb. bottles. 



Gleanings is a good paper. There are 

 many good things in its columns. I be- 

 lieve, however, that you all are away be- 

 hind in curing bee diseases. I refer to foul 

 brood, pickled brood, black brood, and par- 

 alysis. I am quite sure I can give the bee- 

 keepers of the world some very valuable 

 points on this question. My time is large- 

 ly taken up in summer in rearing queens; 

 but if I find any thing unusual in the api- 

 ary that needs investigating, and calls for 

 experiment, I at once give it attention. I 

 am not so sure about the cure of foul brood 

 by my process, as I have had none in my 

 •ipiary for 35 years. I have seen black 

 brood, and that I bought and paid for dear- 

 ly, and on that I have experimented with 

 good success. I never open a stock of bees 



and fail to look for dead brood. When I 

 find but even one cell containing a dead 

 larva the bees and combs are subjected to 

 treatment. 



I believe any case of foul brood will yield 

 to proper treatment with lysol or phenol. 

 No one has ever used those remedies as 1 

 would in case I had a case of foul brood. 



By m}' treatment of black and pickled 

 brood, also paralysis, the combs are quick- 

 ly cleansed of all dead larva;. Since 1 used 

 the treatment, some four years, not one dead 

 larva has appeared in my hives. 



Last June I purchased a colony of black 

 bees. Going by the hive one day I noticed 

 that the entire front of the hive was covered 

 with bees, all shaking violently. I at once 

 fixed up a dose, and commenced to treat 

 them as I would a case of black brood. 

 Some of the bees that were the sickest died : 

 but by far the largest part of the colony 

 was cured and saved. I didn't care wheth- 

 er the bees lived or died; but I did want to 

 see whether or not thej' could be cured of 

 the disease. 



I see Mr. Ouirin could not succeed in 

 having his queens fertilized a la Swarth- 

 more. When will people get through fuss- 

 ing with those fussy things? Keep on do- 

 ing things in the good old-fashioued way. 

 I can succeed in queen-rearing by apply 

 ing nature's ways; and I can do some things- 

 by trying the fussy things. Practical meth- 

 ods lead to success. 



Wenham, Mass. 



WORKER BEES GETTING INTO AN ADJOINING 

 HIVE WITHOUT BEING MOLESTED. 



The queen I got of you in June is a good 

 one; but there is one thing funny about her. 

 Her bees enter two other hives at will, and 

 are not molested. I have been feeding win- 

 ter stores, and in taking out frames to see 

 the amount of honey they had, I saw quite 

 a few yellow bees. They seemed to be at 

 home, and had pollen on them. The queen 

 I got of you is the only pure Italian I have, 

 so there is no mistake. I can tell her bees 

 as easily as I can tell beans from peas; but 

 there is no mixture in the Italian hive. 



Tell Mr. A. I. R<Jotthat the fish-hatchery 

 is at Paris, and the silk city is Belding, 

 not Greenville. Thej' employ about lOOO 

 girls, C. H. Wiggins. 



Lowell, Mich. 



[What you say about young bees, friend 

 W., is not at all unusual. Where an Ital- 

 ian queen is put into a hive containing black 

 bees, with other hives of black bees close 



