August, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



513 



Stoughton are still diseased, but less than 

 2% of the total number in the county. 



Of course, the last traces of disease will 

 be hard to find and will require persistence 

 to eradicate. But with the energetic work 



of the honey producers American foul brood 

 is sure to become more and more uncommon, 

 and I do not believe it is too much to say 

 that it may eventually disappear. 

 Madison, Wis. 



A SERIOUS 

 objection to 

 the produc- 

 tion of comb or 

 section honey is 

 the amount of 

 labor required 

 properly to pre- 

 pare it for mar- 

 ket. We may 

 extract our honey and let the bits of wax 

 rise to the top of the tanks, draw it off into 

 five-gallon cans, place them in cases, nail 

 the lids on the cases, and the crop is ready 

 for market. Tt is quite another thing with 

 comb honey. 



It shoiilci be looked over, soon after it is 

 taken off, to see there are no cells of pollen 

 or brood as will sometimes happen, for worms 

 very often develop about such cells and 

 make a dirty mess. We aim to look it over 

 and clean off propolis soon after it is taken 

 off, before worms have had a chance to get 

 in their work. 



Some of my beekeeping friends spread all 

 their section honev on shelves or under a 



PACKING COMB HONEY 



Every Step in the Care of Comb 

 Honey from the Hi-ve to the Mar- 

 ket 



By J. E. Crane 



A li;imly tuljle for scraping sections. Note the con- 

 venient height for ease in working and the aprons 

 attached to the ends, which keep the propolis from 

 the operator's clothes. 



roof or in an especially warm room, for the 

 honey to ripen, but we have found a dry 

 chamber to answer very well. If any worms 

 start, i>lac-e in a close vessel and with it a 

 teaspoonfiil or more of carbon disulphide 

 and they will give us no more trouble. 



Scraping Propo- 

 lis from Sections. 



Freeing s e c - 

 tions of propolis 

 is quite a task 

 when a large 

 amount of comb 

 honey is pro- 

 duced, and espe- 

 cially so in some 

 sections. We find it much worse in some 

 yards than in others only a few miles away. 

 To clean sections of propolis in a close 

 room full of flies, with the thermometer at 



Knives suitable for scraping sections are difficult 

 to find. These have blades about 2^2 inches long, 

 straight edges with ends tapered to a sharp point. 



85°, and the propolis sticking to the scrawl- 

 ing knife, hands, clothes, chair and the floor, 

 is no very pleasant job. 



We cannot always get rid of the heat, but 

 an electric fan will relieve us of much dis- 

 comfort, and all windows should be'screened 

 to keep out the flies. Paper laid over the 

 floor will save it from most of the propolis 

 that would otherwise stick to it. A com- 

 fortable chair to sit in will prevent exces- 

 sive weariness. 



A Convenient Scraping Table. 



A table just right, and made on purpose 

 for this business, is a great help. It should 

 be high enough to come just above the knees 

 as one sits in the chair. The table I use is 

 two feet wide and three feet and three 

 inches long. Four-inch boards nailed to the 

 sides help to keep the propolis on the table. 

 Two cle.'its, % by % inch, nailed on top of 

 the table for the supers to rest on and keep 

 them above the propolis on the table, are 

 very useful. An apron is attached at each 

 end of the table so two persons can Avork, 

 one end of tlie apron being attached to the 

 end of tlic table and the other end hav- 



