714 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sei'TKMber, 1917 



HEADSnOF GRAIN I PpQlO FDiFFERENt FIELDS 



saw such a stir among half a dozen colonies. 

 I decided to see about mine, and, to my sur- 

 prise, this neighbor 's bees were making war 

 on my colony, and nearly a gallon of dea<l 

 soldiers lay before the hive. It was a bat- 

 tle royal. The guards watched the entrance, 

 but they could not watch the top. I saw 

 my mistake, and am entering my next season 

 a wiser beeman and with greater hope. 

 Morganton, N. C. A. C. Kerley. 



ao ^ ac 



Liquefying Candied 

 Honey That is in 

 Large Vats or Tanks. 



Last autumn extract- 

 ed liohey was selling 

 for only a fair price; 

 in fact, the sales 

 were rather dull. The most of my crop was 

 put up in five-gallon tin cans, but 600 pounds 

 was in a galvanized iron tank. I was not in 

 a hurry to sell, for something seemed to tell 

 me that extracted honey could not go much 

 lower, while there was a fair chance for an 

 advance later on. Every one who has read 

 ' ' Gleanings ' ' and watched the market knows 

 how extracted honey has advanced in price. 

 When the time came to sell to advantage 

 the honey in the five-gallon cans was par- 

 tially candied. This I sold in March. The 

 man who purchased it reminded me of the 

 granulating, and, while he did not deduct 

 anything from the price he offered, he inti- 

 mated that he might have done somewhat 

 better had the honey been in the liquid 



state. He said h-e would have to liquefy it. 



The 600-i)ound tank was mounted on a 

 stand 18 inches high with the center cut out 

 some 12 inches square. For two days I 

 placed a coal-oil stove (two four-inch wicks) 

 underneath, but this was making slow prog- 

 ress in zero weather. I then set up a cook 

 stove in the honey-house, and put a large 

 galvanized tub on it. A tub about five 

 inches smaller in diameter was placed inside, 

 supported by some bent pieces of scrap iron 

 to keep it one inch from the bottom of the 

 first tub. Water was poured in between, and 

 a fire started. I then started to fill the 

 inner tub by scooping the honey from the 

 top of the tank with a grocer's scoop. The 

 honey was candied hard, and any beekeeper 

 who has had any experience along this line 

 knows what that meant. 



After so long a time the coal-oil stove, tho 

 quite feeble compared to its task, began to 

 get in its work; and by ramming a stick 

 thru the honey-gate in the tank I coaxed 

 the honey to flow slowly into a pail. I 

 could now scoop out at the top and also draw 

 off below. I had a nigger's coon-trap — "I 

 catched 'em a-goin ' and a-comin '. " I kept 

 a slow fire under the tub, but I never let the 

 water get any hotter than I could bear my 

 hand in. I believe this is a fair test in the 

 absence of a thermometer. It is better to 

 take a little more time to liquefy honey than 

 to ruin the flavor. 



A mighty iine sweet clover field owned by Friiuk Ij. Abbott, Palms, Mich. 



