360 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



I have been using an auto in my business 

 foi" the past five years, and would not be 

 without one again. Five years ago I pur- 

 chased a large seven-passenger car, second- 

 hand, and converted it into a truck for 

 hauling my bees and honey to and from the 

 outyards, and for marketing my honey. I 

 found it unsatisfactory, as it was not geared 

 right for a truck, and was too expensive to 

 operate for my light running about to out- 

 yards, etc., so I sold it and bought a smaller 

 car for my outyard \york and marketing, 

 and went back to the old reliable horse for 

 my heavy hauling. 



This year I have ordered a Stewart truck 

 of 1500 pounds capacity, and will again try 

 my luck, but this time with a car built for 

 the business. Touring cars are not built for 

 trucks, and any one who invests his money 

 in a second-hand car of this type expecting 

 to do trucking with it might as well save 

 his money. I shall keep my small car for 

 the light work the same as before. 



if the combs are well capped over; if not, 

 it may take a longer time. 



All honey is hauled home from the out- 

 yai'ds and tiered up in the honey-house 

 before a comb is extracted. The honey- 

 house is built on a slight sidehill. The up- 

 per end of the house is raised about three 

 feet, and supported by piers, while the 

 other end is two stories high. The roof is 

 nearly flat, and covered with a composition 

 roofing which draws the sun's rays and 

 makes the temperature very warm in the 

 honey-house. 



In front we .have a bridge level with the 

 honey-house door, and about the height of 

 the auto platform from the ground. This 

 makes it very handy for unloading and 

 loading. 



In the room below we have a stove, wax- 

 press, scales, etc., and a 3000-pound-capac- 

 ity honey-tank. This tank was made for us 

 by Sears, Roebuck & Co., at the small cost 

 of $7.10. It is made of galvanized iron. 



.•j.-i'';/''-'^ 





At the outyards as well as the home yard 

 we always leave the honey on the hive until 

 the close of the flow, raising the supers as 

 they become filled and two-thirds capped, 

 and placing the super .of empty combs un- 

 derneath; then when we are ready to start 

 extracting we can make a business of it. 

 Going thru the yard and sorting out the 

 filled combs once a week or so, as some 

 recommend, takes too much time for out- 

 yards. 



When the honey is ready to come off we 

 go to the yard; and while one man raises 

 the super the other inserts the escape un- 

 derneath. If there is more than one super 

 to come off we generally place the escape 

 under one at a time. In this way we go 

 thru the whole yard at one time. In twenty- 

 four ho'Uis the hops will have left the super 



and is three feet in diameter and six feet 

 high. It extends about six inches thi'u the 

 ceiling into the room above. The extractor 

 is aiTanged near by, and the honey is run 

 by gravity thru a galvanized tube into an 

 Alexander strainer hung over the tank. 



I have read that galvanized iron would 

 darken white honey, but have yet to discov- 

 er that it does so. We use several smaller 

 tanks, all made of galvanized iron, and a 

 bottling outfit made of the same material. 

 Of course we never leave the honey in the 

 large tank for any lengih of time unless it is 

 the last extracting, which is sometimes left 

 for several days. Ordinarily as soon as the 

 tank is full we stop extracting for half a 

 day or long enough to draw off the honey 

 from the tank. Understand, this honey is 

 all well rii^ened on the hive, and can be put 



