1904 



GLEANINGS IN 



BEE CULTURE. 



757 



CUTTING UP CANDIED HONEY; LEARNING 

 HOW TO DO IT BY VISITING SOAP- 

 FACTORIES. 



If you want to know how to cut up can- 

 died honey into square portions of any ffiv- 

 en weight with the simplest of apparatus, 

 I would sug'gfest you visit one or two soap- 

 factories near by, and in a few minutes you 

 will get the hang of the whole matter — es- 

 pecially if you are shown the method of cut- 

 ting up blocifs of toilet soaps. I could give 

 you details, but ocular demonstration at 

 your own door would be so much better I 

 refrain; but I would suggest you visit more 

 than one factory, as no two cut up their 

 blocks of soap in exactly the same way. 

 The methods of some are too elaborate for 

 the average bee- keeper; others, again, have 

 a system that is simplicity itself. 



The crystallizing of the honey in cans 

 that have to be cut up and destroyed is a 

 very crude method. Why not solidify it in 

 rectangular molds with detachable sides 

 and ends, said molds to hold from 100 io 

 1000 lbs., which should be lined with ivash- 

 ed calico to prevent honey sticking to the 

 Sides. Ask the soap people to show you 

 their soap-frames, and this point will at 

 once be clear to you. 



I presume that, among your many sub- 

 scribers, you have some in the soap trade; 

 but don't be disappointed if they should 

 prove niggardly in giving their informa- 

 tion — at least such has been my experi- 

 ence during the 40 years I have been among 

 them. The honey business stands out very 

 conspicuous in the freedom with which, on 

 the whole, its members are ready to give 

 freely of the best of their knowledge. 

 Should you fail to get the details you re- 

 quire I will see what I can do from this 

 distance. Wm. C. Brown. 



Dunedin, New Zeal., June 7. 



[Your suggestion to visit a soap-factory 

 is a good one. I will make an effort to get 

 into one at the very earliest opportunity. I 

 think we shall have no difficulty if we can 

 satisfy them that it is honey we want to cut 

 and not soap. 



The plan of taking honey out of a square 

 can may, perhaps, seem a little crude, and 

 wasteful of the can itself; but honey may 

 not candy for several weeks to be solid; 

 and a great part of the honey now being 

 shipped comes in 60-lb. square cans; and 

 if it is candied it must be remelted, run out 

 of the cans, then put where it will granu- 

 late again in bricks or bags as the case 

 may be. This will consume a great deal of 

 time, and rhore than offset the value of the 



can. If the honey is to be recandied at all 

 it should be poured into little vats (not 

 large ones) holding chunks of just the right 

 size to retail. There will be no use of hav- 

 ing it candy in a large vat and then cut- 

 ting it with a wire unless one could not de- 

 termine in advance what size of bricks he 

 would require for his trade. — Ed.] 



THE SWARTHMORE METHOD OF QUEEN - 

 REARING IN ENGLAND. 



At the 65th annual exhibition of the Roy- 

 al Agricultural Society of England, held 

 at Park Royal, London, during the week 

 ending June 25, in the bee department, 

 class 411, for any appliances connected 

 with bee-keeping, the first prize was award- 

 ed to James Lee and Sons, of Highbury, 

 London, for a complete outfit in full work, 

 showing the Swarthmore system of queen- 

 rearing. The judges in this department 

 were Thos. W. Cowan and the Rev. Mr. 

 Evans. 



The British Bee Journal, in the report of 

 the show, gives the following honorable 

 mention : " In class 411, Messrs. Lee ob- 

 tained first prize for a very interesting ex- 

 hibition of a Swarthmore outfit for queen- 

 rearing in active operation. Live cells 

 were being worked out and larva; fed, and 

 the whole process was practically demon- 

 strated from the commencement, ending 

 with two little nuclei containing fertilized 

 queens." 



I understand that Messrs. Lee have been 

 appointed Mr. E. L. Pratt s agents in 

 England for the sale of the Swarthmore 

 queen-rearing outfits, and for his golden- 

 all-over queens. They were supplied with 

 the appliances, and instructions for using 

 them, in May, and from the report in the 

 British Bee Journal they appear to have 

 succeeded remarkably well in their first 

 attempt in rearing queens and getting them 

 mated in small nucleus boxes. 



Mr. Thos. W. Cowan, one of the judges, 

 is a thoroughly practical and scientific bee- 

 keeper, is well known to you, Mr. Editor, 

 as the inventor of the Cowan extractor you 

 manufacture, also to Prof. Cook and many 

 of the leading apiculturists in the United 

 States and in Europe. An award at an 

 important exhibition made by a judge of 

 Mr. Cowan's standing goes far to substan- 

 tiate the practicability of the plan, and an 

 improvement on older methods. 



Philadelphia, Pa. John M. Hooker. 



TWO QUEENS IN A CELL AGAIN. 



In a recent number of Gleanings the 

 editor asks for reports from any one who 

 may have found two queens in a cell. 

 Three years ago I found just that condition 

 in one of my colonies. The queen-cell was 

 about two thirds as long as my little finger. 

 On cutting it open I found two queens well 

 developed. They probably would have 

 emerged within two days. 



Wm. M. Whitney. 



Lake Geneva, Wis. 



