DecembeIv, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE C U T. T U R E 



935 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



ber is oiiablod to reap the benefits in the 

 printed re]iort. This embodies all the 

 speeches, plans, and so on, presented at the 

 meeting', and gives the details of all im- 

 portant matters aeeoinprshed by the as- 

 sociation thruout the year. 



There are no annnal dnes. Membership 

 shai-es are $10.00 each, and ownership of 

 one share entitles the liolder to all rights 

 and privileges of the organization. Any 

 I)erson may }>urchase a number of shares 

 up to 100, whieh is the limit of individual 

 ownership. Fifty per cent of the amount 

 subscribed must be paid in, the remainder a 

 year hence. Fi\'e dollars, paid now, will 

 entitle any beekeeper to full benefits. Af- 

 ter $10.00 per shaie has been paid, no 

 further obligation is assumed. Profits of 

 the association are rebated to members in 

 proportion to business done. Most of the 

 larger honey-producers of Texas are back cf 

 the movement, and it is hoped that evei'y 

 beekeepft" will become aligned wlith i{t. 

 Every man interested in Texas beekeeping, 

 either directly or indirectly, is cordially in- 

 vited to become a member. 



The officers are Louis H. SchoU. New 

 Brannfels, President; Willis C. Collier, 

 Goliad, Vice-president; E. Guy LeStour- 

 g^eon, San Antonio, Secretary and Manager; 

 A. M. Patterson, Cashier Adams National 

 Bank at Devine, Treasurer. The other di- 

 rectors are : Wiley A. Winters, Jourdan- 

 ton; Eichard Voges, Poth; Aug. E. Saat- 

 hoff, D'Hanis ; and Alfred L. Hartl. Elmen- 

 dorf. The officers and directors are elect- 

 ed annually by the membership at the 

 San Antonio meeting in November. The 

 manager and treasurer are each under a 

 bond of $10,000. The address of the secre- 

 tary is Box 1048, San Antonio, Texas. 

 Bylaws and plan of organization will be 

 gladly mailed to any beekeeper who is in- 

 terested. Come with us and help in this 

 great work. E. ,G. LeStourgeon. 



[The foregoing was submitted to the 

 secretary of one of the prominent co-oper- 

 ative associations in the East. His re- 

 marks are so intei'esting that we take pleas- 

 ure in presenting them herewith. — Ed.] 



T think the proposition a good one. but 

 the following points will be necessary to 

 make it a success : 



1. That most of the members be large or 

 reasonabh' large producers. 



2. If the market or markets be far away, 

 that shipments be made in cailots. 



3. Last, but most impoi'tant of all. that 



the \(iliinie of business transacted be large, 

 that a strictly capable business manager be 

 in charge, and that all grading standards 

 be strictly adhered to. If any of these 

 last three parts are lacking the plan will 

 probably result in failure. 



Akron, N. Y. William F. Vollmer. 



raa ^C8= 



Using a Capping-melter in the Winter 



To all who are engaged in the production 

 of extracted honey at all extensively, the 

 ({uestion of how best to dispose of the cap- 

 pings is quite an impoitant one. A number 

 of oapping-melters are on the market, and 

 some beekeeperi; use these melter.c continu- 

 ously while the extracting is being done, 

 mixing the honey from the melter along with 

 the general crop taken from the extractor. 

 While a few report satisfactory results 

 from this system, many others, after ti'jnng 

 the method, have discarded it. as unsatis- 

 factory. Personally I have yet to see the 

 melter that will turn out honey Avithout hav- 

 ing a slightly eoolccd flavor, and I believe 

 about all the different makes have come 

 U!ider my notice. 



In using cnc of these melters a few years 

 ago in our own apiaries, we found these 

 unfavorable conditions in connection with 

 their use at the time of extracting: i. e., 

 when eappii;gs were melted as fast as tak- 

 en off the combs, and the resultant honey 

 poured right in with tlie rest fi-om the ex- 

 tractor, the honey was off in flavor and 

 color, no matter how rapidly it was cleared 

 fro'7n the machine; if strained, waxy parti- 

 cles in the hot honey would clog up our 

 strainer clotlis; if poured in tanks without 

 straining, then waxy pai-ticles would be 

 found all over the inside of the tank; and 

 even when strained we found, after putting 

 the honey in pails, that minute dark specks 

 came to the top. 



Then, again, our honej^-hou-ses at some of 

 the out-apiaries are none too large; and 

 with the heat generated by the stove under 

 the melter it is really too hot to work in 

 comfort on very warm days — the kind of 

 days in which extracting" is most easily done. 

 After using the melter for taking care of 

 cappings fiom about 40.000 pounds of hon- 

 ey one season, we unanimously voted it not 

 a success, and since then we have been drain- 

 ing' our cap]iings as best we could, and then 

 stoi'ing them in barrels till winter, disposing 

 of them at our leisure dui'ing the slack time. 



Some years ago we used to wash the cap- 



