230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



much so the pastures for stock were very 

 poor, and the hay crop was so meager that 

 prices ranged away up. In all of these 

 three years, the honey crop was an entire 

 failure. This simply proves that the plants 

 are powerless to secrete nectar unless there 

 is a good supply of moisture. As stated 

 above, bee-keepers have generally supposed 

 that it required fifteen inches of rainfall to 

 give a good honey crop. The experience of 

 two years ago would modify this view a little. 

 If the rains are late, fewer are required than 

 when they commence early in the year. 



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SECOND-HAND SQUARE OIL-CANS FOR 

 HONEY. 



How to Treat Them so that They will be Fit 



for Use; a Valuable Article from One 



who Knows. 



BY L. B. BELL. 



On page 32 the Payette Valley Bee Co. in- 

 quires for a method of cleaning kerosene- 

 cans. As we have stored and sold from four 

 to eight tons of honey per year for the past 

 sixteen years in such cans, without a word 

 of complaint, so far as we know, perhaps 

 our experience will be worth something to 

 the fraternity. 



While on this subject I may as well give 

 our whole system of handling this class of 

 cans, as I believe it will prove a great econ- 

 omy in the hands of careful bee-men of the 

 West. The high freight rates on goods as 

 bulky as five-gallon cans cased is prohibitive 

 to the use of new cans. We people of the 

 West, in order to play ev^n, in a measure, 

 with the Standard oil people, and the rail- 

 roads in some way, for making our oil cost 

 us 40 cts. per gallon instead of 12, as in Ohio, 

 have to use their cans and cases for our hon- 

 ey. 



We use all the gasoline-cans we can get 

 hold of, as they are more easily cleaned; but 

 we also use all the kerosene-cans we get as 

 well. 



I have an old scavenger, or a " raggedy- 

 raggedy man, ' ' who gathers my cans for me 

 in a local mining town. I pay him 5 cents 

 each for his trouble of collecting and holding 

 them until I go for them. I sometimes 

 bring home 120 in a load. 



REPAIRING CANS. 



When we are ready to make a job of sol- 

 dering we remove the oil-caps on the cans by 

 holding them over a hot blaze in our solder- 

 ing fire-pot, until the solder starts, which 

 operation is quite rapid with a good fire. 



Next we patch any vent-holes which we find, 

 and solder on our screw caps. Last year we 

 got our screw caps from the American Can 

 Co., San Francisco, Cal., or Chicago, 111., 

 with IJ-inch mouths and 2-inch base, which 

 exactly fits the cans, and is a good size to 

 fill into. When we find a can with its sides 

 collapsed so that its capacity is small, after 

 soldering it we straighten it by exploding 1 

 or 11 drams of rifle powder as near the cen- 

 ter of the can as we can hang it. It straight- 

 ens them in a hurry. Tie the powder in a 

 small cloth around one end of a blasting-fuse 

 about eight inches long; cut a gash in the 

 fuse near the other end, and put in a few 

 grains of powder to " spit " the fuse quickly. 

 Insert this cartridge into the opening in the 

 can the proper distance to bring powder near 

 the center of the can; secure by tying by a 

 string to a ring on top of the can. ' ' Touch 

 the button ' ' with a match, and the powder 

 does the rest. 



Cans thus treated may not case well for 

 shipment, but are as good for storage for 

 local use as any. A few experiments will 

 teach you the amount of powder to use for 

 different conditions of cans. 



CLEANING THE CANS. 



The method we have found the most satis- 

 factory in rapidity and thoroughness is to 

 make a solution of strong soapsuds by slic- 

 ing up not less than two bars of some good 

 laundry soap (without rosin in it is prefer- 

 red) to a barrel of water. Add to this not 

 over half a can or about J lb. of concentrated 

 lye. We then throw a steam-hose into the 

 barrel, and boil until the soap is dissolved. 

 We use a funnel made with the small end a 

 little smaller than the size of the opening in 

 the cans, to allow for expansion of the cool 

 air in the can, and to prevent the hot suds 

 from being blown back in your face while 

 pouring into the cans. 



We have a J-inch pipe running from the 

 steam-dome of our boiler so we can get dry 

 steam. This pipe has a perpendicular length 

 sufficient to reach to the bottom of a can, 

 with a valve within convenient reach of 

 your hands. Insert this pipe in a can con- 

 taining the hot suds, until the lower end of 

 it reaches within about | inch of the bottom. 

 Suspend the can in this position by a hook 

 fastened into the ring on the can. Open 

 your valve and let in steam enough to boil 

 the suds, and throw it all over the inside of 

 the can. We boil one can and fill another 

 ready to boil, and rinse out the boiled can. 

 We always rinse with two waters— the first 

 time with clean hot water; the last, clean 

 cold water. With this system one active 

 person can clean 100 or more per day. 



After draining these cans they are laid in 

 a hot sunny place on their sides, with the 

 opening nearest the top, to allow the re- 

 maining moisture and any odors to escape 

 freely. We clean cans in hot sunny weather, 

 as the sun is the most effective and conven- 

 ient form of heat we have found for the vol- 

 atilizing of the oil odors. We have found 

 the use of concentrated lye in too strong a 



