1904 



Gi-EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



597 



by one of the regular foundation-manufac- 

 turers, Mr. France standing- watch with a 

 thermometer, so that an overheating of the 

 wax should not take place. When his little 

 batch of foundation was done he took it and 

 used it in 60 hives in several different yards 

 where foul brood had never visited, so far 

 as could be ascertained. Three years have 

 now gone b3', but no disease has as yet 

 made its appearance. 



Another confirmation that wax of foul- 

 broody combs can be safely used for foun- 

 dation was brought to notice by Mr. W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, saying that Mr. R. L. Taylor 

 had made wax from diseased ccmbs by so- 

 lar heat alone, made it into foundation, and 

 used it in clean hives. No disease had come 

 from it. 



It seems from all this that foul brood is 

 not so contagious as I was led to believe. 



PICKLED BROOD ; HOW CAUSED AND HOW 

 CURED. 



Speaking of pickled brood, Mr. France 

 said it was not a contagious disease, and 

 is produced only by starvation, usually oc- 

 curring during the honey-dearth between 

 dandelion and clover blocm. To prove the 

 correctness cf this, Mr. F. selected a large 

 apiary which had in previous years been 

 regularly afflicted with the disease. Every 

 other row was lightly fed every night dur- 

 ing the spell mentioned. No colony so fed 

 contracted the disease, but the others did. 

 His conclusion was ihat feeding will al- 

 ways prevent or cure pickled brood. Feed 

 any way when there is a let- up in the hon- 

 ey-flow, between the flows. 



HONEY-PACKAGES. 



Mr. France, being an extracted- honey 

 man, was considerably "pumped " on the 

 matter of producing and selling the article. 

 As a retail package, he did not speak with 

 favor of the Mason glass can. The green 

 color of the glass gives the honey a bad ap- 

 pearance; besides, the honey siphons out 

 and besmears the can. He prefers a tin 

 package entirely covered with a flashy la- 

 bel. For large packages he would rather 

 handle a 500-lb. barrel than a crate of two 

 60 1b. cans. They are back breakers, he 

 says. 



A KINK IN HANDLING A CRATE OF SQUARE 

 CANS. 



I want to mention here a Coggshall trick 

 of handling the crates holding two 60-lb. 

 cans. He tilts the crate on the edge corner- 

 wise, and thus slides it over the floor at — 

 well, lightning speed, thus avoiding the car- 

 rying of them. Of course, eventually they 

 will have to be lifted if to be tiered up. 



HONEY VINEGAR VS. ACID VINEGAR FOR 

 PICKLES. 



Mr. France spoke of inducing a large 

 pickle- factory to make their vinegar of hon- 

 ey. On inquiry they informed him that 

 they used acids to make their vinegar. 

 Acid vinegar will eat up the pickles, he told 

 them, while honey vinegar will keep them 



in fine order indefinitely. Has it really 

 come to this, that poisonous acids must 

 be used when large quantities of apples, 

 and honey in the flowers, go to waste every 

 year— enough, if made into vinegar, to sup- 

 ply the whole world with a wholesome ar- 

 ticle? This ought to be stopped for the 

 sake of the welfare of the nation. 



A short time ago, when passing the wine- 

 cellar of Mr. Maxfield, the wealthiest man 

 in my town, I noticed a large glass jug 

 boxed in wood, of the capacity of ten or 

 twelve gallons, outside of the establish- 

 ment. 1 remembered these jugs from my 

 bo3 hood days as being used for sulphuric 

 acid. The attendant of the cellar, an hon- 

 est German from the "Fatherland," stood 

 near by, and I asked him about the jug — 

 what it had contained— and he said, " Sul- 

 phuric acid." I made no more inquiry as 

 to what they used the stuft" for, but I had 

 my opinion about it. The owner of the es- 

 tablishftient, and of innumerable farms and 

 vineyards in the vicinity, evidently can not 

 make money fast enough producing an hon- 

 est grape wine, so he tries to increase his 

 profits b}' the use of sulphuric acid in his 

 wines, and thus helps to destroy the stom- 

 achs of his customers. It is the same with 

 the acid vinegar. The use of it should be 

 prohibited. Perhaps a large share of our 

 inferior grades of honey could then be work- 

 ed up into vinegar. 



WHEN TO PUT EXTRACTED IN RETAIL PACK- 

 AGES. 



Mr. France said that it had bothered 

 him, sometimes, when filling retail pack- 

 ages, because a scum would rise on the 

 honey after standing a while. But he 

 found that, after storing the honey in a 

 tank for a time, no scum would rise. Hon- 

 ey shou'd, therefore, not be drawn into re- 

 tail packages as soon as extracted. 



I would say that it is not wise to fill re- 

 tail packages ahead of the time wanted for 

 the trade, on account ot the tendency of al- 

 most all honey to granulate. It is true 

 that, when honey is heated up to about 150 

 degrees soon after extracting, and bottled 

 while hot, and sealed, it will or may re- 

 main liquid for all time. I have some glass 

 cans in my honey house to-day, Jan. 25, 

 containing honey which was heated the 

 next day after extracting, Aug. 20, and 

 some which was not heated. The former is 

 perfectly liquid, the other is perfectly solid. 

 All honey, however, can not be depended 

 upon to remain liquid, even when heated up 

 as stated. It is better to store honey in a 

 metal tank, and heat it up as soon and as 

 often as it begins to show any granulation, 

 then draw off into small packages when 

 wanted. This method will save trouble 

 and vexation. When one has his customers 

 educated to the point that they will take 

 the granulated honey, that would, of course, 

 make a difference. 



SCRAPING SECTIONS ON COARSE-MESH WIRE 

 CLOTH. 



During the afternoon of the second day 



