1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



25 



the beginner; and if this statement stands 

 true it must also be good for the expert 

 bee-keeper, of which all is true. Mr. Mc- 

 Gregor states that he has been using them 

 ever since their introduction by the Root 

 Co., except the two last years. Now, how 

 much cold cash do you suppose he has lost 

 on the use of this frame? I too have used 

 this frame ever since it was put out to the 

 bee-keeping pubhc. I used them by the 

 hundreds in the United States, and have 

 used them by the thousands here in Cuba, 

 I have built up over 4000 colonies in this 

 country on these frames, and I confess that 

 I have no desire to be rid of them till I can 

 find something better than the old hanging 

 frame to replace them. 



I admit that the Hoffman frame 

 does not suit me in all respects; 

 but I shall stand by the Hoffnian 

 until I'm sure I have something 

 better for those who are not satis- 

 fied with it because their locality is 

 so bad for propolis. 



I know a very good spacer is 

 the one which I describe on page 

 1249. The points of bearing are so 

 small that the bees have not room 

 to place enough propolis to cause 

 the spacer to break. The great 

 trouble with the Hoffman frame is 

 that most of the bee-keepers have 

 not yet learned how to nail them 

 up properly and use them as they 

 should. It is a well-established 

 fact that the most of the propolis 

 is always at the tops of the frames 

 and hives; hence the breaking off 

 of the spacers. But do not all 

 kinds of frames break sometimes 

 through manipulation? I find that 

 all kinds of frames will sometimes 

 break. 



In my judgment the proper place 

 for spacers is on the top- bar; and 

 your correspondent is at the pres- 

 ent time working along that line, 

 but without using nails or staples, 

 for they are not suitable for the 

 up-to-date apiarist. 



Matanzas, Cuba. 



18 inches. The lower layer of boards is 

 covered with some old flat iron roofing. On 

 this is another layer of boards. On this plat- 

 form short strips of 1X2 are nailed, leaving 

 open spaces, as shown by the cut. Around 

 the outside, strips of one-inch stuff are 

 nailed so as to fill the open spaces except 

 at one place, where the steam is to be in- 

 troduced. 



Now, with your tank full of honey resting 

 on the waffle-iron platform, introduce your 

 steam and keep it there until the honey is 

 heated to your satisfaction. If you do this 

 on the morning of a bright sunshiny day, by 

 night you can skim off all impurities. So 

 long as our honey can circulate freely, there 



GATE 



A STEAM-HEATED HONEY-TANK. 



Steam a Necessity in a Large Apiary. 



BY E. F. ATWATER. 



Perhaps a description of our tank might 

 be of interest to some, especially those who 

 are putting up honey in the Aikin bags. No 

 matter liow long our thick honey may stand, 

 all specks of wax and other impurities will 

 not come to the top. Soon after filling the 

 tank therefore (our first tank holds 4500 

 pounds) , we arrange to heat the honey to 

 perhaps 140 degrees. The tank stands in 

 the unbroken sunshine, and is painted a dark 

 brown, to absorb as m.uch sun heat as pos- 

 sible. The cover is of the same color. 



The tank rests on a platform, raised about 



is no danger of overheating until thelmass 

 is hotter than 140 degrees. If your honey 

 is different in this respect, I suppose you 

 will need a more expensive tank, with double 

 bottom, to contain hot water. Some may 

 not have steam available, but the extensive 

 bee-keeper should have it, for wax- rendering, 

 cleaning cans, foundation-making, etc. .^We 

 have an old boiler that cost us about $10. It 

 is not necessary to carry more than 15 

 pounds of steam, though more is sometimes 

 convenient. 

 Meridian, Idaho. 



[This arrangement is very simple; and 

 where one can get a jet of steam cheaply, 

 probably there can not be any thing better. 

 But I imagine that the majority of bee-keep- 

 ers would not be fortunate enough to be able 

 to purchase a second-hand boiler for $10. 



