1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



607 



id method of fastening foundation in brood- 

 frames. After trying- all the known meth- 

 ods, I thought I had found the acme of per- 

 fection when the double-groove and wedge 

 system was introduced ; but I soon had no 

 end of trouble from the wedge coming out 

 after the frame dried in the hive; so I adopt- 

 ed ihe plan of cutting clear out (with a cir- 

 cular saw) half of the under side of the 

 top-bar. The foundation is then laid on 

 the shoulder which remains, and the half 

 cut out is replaced by nailing with V-inch 

 brads tight against the foundation. With 

 practice these can be put on so that the 

 foundation will never " budge," even with- 

 out wires, and it is easily removed by pull- 

 ing the brads. J. H. Burns. 

 St. Marys, Ont., April 25. 



[A frame- hook such as you show in the 

 illustration might be very handy in a tool- 

 box used on special occasions; but for ev- 

 ery-day work I should very much prefer 

 some sort of metal pry like a screwdriver, 

 merely to loosen the frames, and then pick 

 them up with the fingers. As a general 

 rule, the more extensive bee-keepers use 

 nothing but a simple pry. 



Your method of fastening foundation is 

 the same in principle as that used by E. 

 Kretchmer, of Red Oak, Iowa. He has ad- 

 vertised a frame of this description for a 

 number of years back. 



There need be no trouble with the wedges 

 slipping out, providing they are driven be- 

 low the general surface of the wood. If the 

 wedge is driven so it is just flush it will 

 work out again. It should go down at 

 least i^g inch, then it will never come out. — 

 Ed.] 



sublimated sulphur. 

 I have not noticed any thing in Glean- 

 ings about the kind of sulphur generally 

 used for curing bee-paralysis; but I consid- 

 er it very important to use only sublimated 

 sulphur for this purpose, also called flour 

 of sulphur, or purified washed sulphur. 

 Crude sulphur is largely mined in Sicilj', 

 or made considerably from iron pyrites 

 (FeS-'), and contains generally much ar- 

 senic. By heating the iron pyrites, about 

 half the sulphur is separated, still contain- 

 ing considerable impurities with arsenic. 

 To get a purer article, the best sulphur is 

 distilled as is alcohol, the vapor condensing 

 in a cold-storage room as a fine powder 

 called flour of sulphur, or sublimated sul- 

 phur. The restof the sulphur not distilled, 

 not being pure enough, is heated until liq- 

 uid, and then cast into bars, called some- 

 times roll brimstone, or bars of sulphur. 

 These sulphur bars are largely ground in- 

 to a very fine powder, and sold under the 

 common name of sulphur, just as is the pure 

 article, the sublimated sulphur. The dif- 

 ference in price is so little that no attention 

 need be paid to it, as sublimated sulphur 

 can be bought almost anywhere in the Unit- 

 ed States at 5 to 10 cents per pound retail. 

 To purify the sublimated sulphur still 



more, it should be washed in a weak solu- 

 tion of ammonia in water (NH^ and water), 

 which removes any present sulphuric acid 

 caused by oxydation while in contact with 

 the oxygen of the air, and removes also the 

 arsenic. Then the sulphur should be dried 

 fast, which may be done successfully in the 

 hot noon sun, and then stored in a closed 

 jar, so that as little air as possible can 

 have access to it. Now we have a pure ar- 

 ticle, washed sublimated sulphur, practi- 

 cally free from acid and arsenic. 



Visalia, Cal. Otto Luhdorff. 



[You will remember that Mr. O. O. Pop- 

 pleton, A hile still affirming that the sul- 

 phur will cure, believes it is better to de- 

 stroy the old queen, or perhaps destroy the 

 old colony as well, using the combs and the 

 brood to make a new start. There is a 

 good deal of proof to show that bee-paraly- 

 sis is an inherited disease from the queen; 

 and, while it can be cured, there is great 

 danger that it will return within a year. 

 If it is not desired to destroy the bees, sul- 

 phur them, kill the queen, and give them a 

 virgin from some healthy colony. — Ed.] 



PUTTING UP HONEY IN BOXES; HONEY 



CANDYING WITH A COARSE AND FINE 



GRAIN. 



I have just had the opportunity of read- 

 ing up some of the back numbers of Glean- 

 ings. On page 1001, Dec. 1, you speak of 

 "Eastern honey" as though it were about 

 all alike so far as its candying qualities 

 are concerned. My experience is that bass- 

 wood honey will candy in less time than 

 clover and raspberry, and will have a much 

 finer grain. I have never stirred any in 

 either case. 



I was all ready to put up some in the 

 Aiken honey-bags last summer; but the 

 short crop, with brisk demand, prevented. 

 My plan at present is to put all of my bass- 

 wood extracted in the bags, partly because 

 it candies with a fine grain, but mainly be- 

 cause that peculiar flavor to which many 

 object is hardly noticeable in the candied 

 state. I wonder if that isn't true of other 

 honeys that are described as being "min- 

 ty." The clover and raspberry I expect to 

 put up in tin cans partly because I have an 

 early demand for extracted honey, but 

 mainly because I think its good flavor is 

 partly concealed bv candying. 



When the bags first came I opened one, 

 poured some water in it and it leaked just 

 a little. I tried a second and a third, with 

 the same result; so I decided that, when I 

 wanted to use them, I would paraffine them; 

 then, if I wanted to, I could fill them with 

 liquid honey and let them candy vrhen they 

 got ready, without the bother of watching 

 and waiting till the honey was thick enough 

 so the bags wouldn't leak, but not so thick 

 that it wouldn't run well. 



I paraffined a few, just to see how it 

 would work, leaving them spread out full 

 size. When I put them away I put them up 

 two and two, slipping the one over the other 



