1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



67 



ers who can possibly do so may begin to 

 prepare for a trip to Texas this fall, during 

 the meeting of the National. The sooner 

 you begin the better, and the more likely it 

 will be that you will be there. 



We have heard a great deal about the 

 carload of bee-keepers who went to the Los 

 Angeles meeting ; but suppose there should 

 be tivo carloads going to Texas. It seems 

 reasonable enough. No matter how many 

 or how few may come, however, the Texans 

 will show you a good time, and preparations 

 are already being made for the occasion. 



The time of the meeting will most likely 

 be in October, and during the time of the 

 International Fair. This would be the most 

 suitable time for several reasons, chief 

 among them being that our weather turns a 

 little cooler then, which, I presume, would 

 be much appreciated by such great big fat 

 fellows as our friends Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 Hershiser, Root, York, Abbott, and Niver. 



Come, for you are invited. 



THE V EDGE ON HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



This subject has received much attention 

 in the bee journals of late, and both sides of 

 the question have been brought forward. 

 In spite of all this, who can decide which is 

 the better? If we should judge by the 

 many reports in favor of the square edges 

 on the end-bars of Hoffman frames, we 

 might draw our own conclusions in their 

 favor, and pronounce the V edge as unneces- 

 sary and only an extra expense. But why 

 are others in favor of the V-edge end-bars 

 instead of the square ones ? They have 

 their reasons. 



In my opinion, localitv and conditions have 

 a great deal to do with it. There was a 

 time when I had only my home yard of about 

 65 colonies on both styles of frames, with 

 square edge, and with V-edge end-bars, 

 and after having tried them side by side for 

 about six years I could not see any advan- 

 tage in having the V edge on the frames. 



Even in 1901, when the editor of Glean- 

 ings visited me,' and we went through sev- 

 eral colonies in the apiary, this matter was 

 discussed, and I held the same opinion. In 

 fact, I showed Mr. Root that there was no 

 use for the V edge, a fact that seemed to be 

 plain when the proof was right before you. 

 Since then, however, I have been compelled 

 to change my views, for several outyards 

 that were established later disproved them. 

 Locality and other conditions made the dif- 

 ference. 



In the first locality, at my home yard, 

 propolis was very scarce, so that no trouble 

 from this source was encountered. At the 

 outyards propolis was plentiful, however, 

 and it was not long before it collected on 

 the square edges to such an extent that the 

 frames could not be crowded together prop- 

 erly. The edges being flat and wide, the 

 propolis would in time accumulate with each 

 handling ; and every time the frames were 

 replaced it would become packed into a solid 

 mass. With the V edge this was overcome 



to a certain extent, as it cut through when 

 the frames were crowded together, and 

 much better spacing can be obtained. 

 Therefore, to be on the safe side, and to 

 guard against such trouble, I have now de- 

 cided in favor of the V-edge Hoffman frame. 



money in candied honey. 



The writer had the pleasure to help in put- 

 ting up candied honey for the retail trade 

 while visiting at the establishment of The 

 A. I. Root Company at Medina, and the 

 result is that I am very much impressed 

 with this idea of disposing of extracted 

 honey after it has granulated. The editor 

 of Gleanings has mentioned the method 

 employed, in several issues, so I will not go 

 into details here. I would ask the readers 

 to read again what is said on pages 224, 276, 

 331, 589, however, as it will pay you to do so. 



The gist of the whole matter is that the 

 trouble of candied honey is overcome. The 

 labor, trouble, time, and expense of relique- 

 fying candied honey is done away with; and 

 instead the honey is sold in the candied 

 state, and that at a greater profit. Some- 

 thing worth thinking about, is it not ? 



Whole cans of honey that have granulated 

 solid are stripped of their tin, as it were, 

 leaving a solid cake which is then cut up 

 into small oblong bricks weighing about one 

 pound or a little over. Each brick is then 

 wrapped in paraffine paper, after which an- 

 other sheet of strong paper is put on. These 

 are then placed in small cartons, and the 

 whole (the carton with its brick of honey) 

 is neatly wrapped in a beautiful wrapper of 

 light-tinted paper with appropriate printing 

 in gold. This makes a dainty package of 

 nature's sweets that catches the eye of 

 every person, and they sell like hot cakes, 

 and at a fancy price too. 



So well did this way of putting candied 

 honey on the market impress me that I 

 actually wished I could be at my Texas 

 home to give it a trial there. This being 

 impossible, however, I hope that some of my 

 bee-keeping friends may try it and report. 



It works all right here in the North ; but 

 I am not sure it will do so in our southern 

 country ; but I am inclined to believe it can 

 be done; and as our colder weather generally 

 comes during January, February, and March, 

 I should like to call the bee-keepers' special 

 attention to this matter so that those who 

 are in position to do so may give it a trial. 

 Of course, it does not get as cold in the 

 South as it does in the Northern States, and 

 the winters are not nearly so long; but honey 

 granulates very readily, and becomes solid 

 and hard, so that it can be cut up into bricks, 

 as mentioned above, very readily. The only 

 question that I see would be whether it 

 would stand up during the warmer days. 

 This could be solved by a thorough trial, 

 however. Perhaps cold storage could be 

 resorted to, which seems quite feasible. 

 Who is going to try it ? and who will report 

 on it ? Tiy it in a small way and let us 

 know the results. 



