82 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



flaring than sap pails. They hold tiOO pounds 

 of honey without being quite full. They 

 cost $1.25 each. Mine have no handles, but 

 a friend had some made with good, stout 

 handles, which he thinks an improvement. 



Mine have one advantage, though : when 

 the honey is candied I can roll them about 

 on the floor, or up a plank into the wagon, 

 when hauling them from the out-apiary. 

 However, if handles are put on, they should 

 be near the top, so the cans can still be nested 

 when not in use. I cover them by tying a 

 thin cloth over the top, then if there is any 

 thin honey mixed in, it will rise to the top 

 and flnish ripening in the warm air in the 

 honey house. 



When I wish to liquify the honey, to put it 

 up for the market, I have a bottomless box 

 three or four inches deep that I put in an 

 empty can, set in a full one, put the whole 

 on the stove, and fill the outside one with 

 water. The honey soon melts, as there is 

 hot water under and all around it. When 

 entirely melted it is dipped off into another 

 can provided with a gate. Thus I liquify 

 200 pounds at a time, and I think it much 

 better than to liquify it in the same package 

 in which it is to be sold. 



I have used these cans for several years 

 with increasing satisfaction, and anyone who 

 has ever dug candied honey out of a barrel, 

 in order to melt it, will appreciate their con- 

 venience. As noted in your "leader," can- 

 died honey will retain its flavor for years. 

 The danger in losing the flavor lies in expos- 

 ure to the air in nwUhuj, and afterwards. 

 To obviate this it should be sealed up imme- 

 diately, while hot. 



Obeelin, O., 



May 1, 1890. 



The "Best Hive" for Raising Extracted 

 Honey ; Necessity of Furnishing a Good 

 Article ; Storing, Liquifying and Sell- 

 ing ; A Better Extractor Needed. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



^ H my, how busy I am ! Four thousand 

 ' «^ things to think of, and this topic, 

 '// great enough for columns more than 

 you can afford to give each of us, and 

 what shall I say 'i 



Well, the first thing I will say is that, as 

 usual, you have voiced my sentiments almost 

 exactly in your leader in last issue. The 

 fact is, Brother Hutchinson, you and I work 

 so very nearly alike, preferring almost ex- 

 actly the same implements all over the 

 apiary, that you knock me out every time 

 with your introductory article in the previous 

 number. I cannot get a chance to quarrel 

 with you, and I can quarrel out a new thought 

 in better shape than in any other way. I 

 guess I am more of a controversialist than 

 an essayist. 



Well, I will take what you have said to he 

 true, and I will guess that a good many of 

 our brothers will say good and true things 

 which I might as well leave out, and 1 will 

 try and make my article short by saying 

 something that others may not think of. 



In the first place, although you have not 

 mentioned it, I know that you know as well 

 as I do that my divisible brood chamber 

 hive is just about the only hive completely 

 adapted to the production of extracted honey 

 in the largest quantity, of the best quality 

 and with the least labor. This is because all 

 the sections are shallow, so that the tiering 

 plan, saving the bees from capping the 

 honey, yet getting it thoroughly ripened, 

 works to a T, 



The next and most valuable point, and one 

 which I have noted in my circulars, is that 

 we put on and off our supers so quickly that 

 robbers, when abroad, cannot get a taste, 

 thus saving that annoyance and three-quar- 

 ters of the time ordinarily spent, (yes, more 

 than that), and the shallow frames can be 

 uncapped wherever any sealing has taken 

 place ; that is, the same amount of surface 

 can be uncapped with much less labor than 

 can be done with deeper frames, and the 

 beauty of it is that we have no more work 

 to do among the bees in the sun than we do 

 with comb honey, and right here is a great 

 innovation in the ordinary methods of rais- 

 ing extracted honey. The bane of that busi- 

 ness has been the shaking and brushing of 

 bees out in the sun. Now, we have got it all 

 in doors. We have got it where we can 

 manipulate our outside work many times 

 faster, and cheaper labor can be employed 

 to do the work inside with very little practice. 



Now as regards the quality of extracted 

 honey. I could hit you for getting right 

 on to my hobby horse. As you know, I have 

 sold all my extracted honey for several years 

 past to bee keepers, men who knew the im- 

 portance of always keeping their home mar- 

 ket supplied with A. No. 1 honey, but who 

 did not raise enough to supply it. I have 

 sold the honey at a very low figure, but I 

 could afford to do it, for I got my cash with 

 the order. Then I shipped an article that 

 the honey producer, one who is a good judge, 

 kneui was superior. He sold it to his cus- 

 tomers, and after that transaction took place, 

 I had him for a customer every time. In 

 not one place in fifty could he get as good an 

 article ; honey as thoroughly ripened, rich 

 and with as good body. 



My bees thoroughly ripen my honey, and 

 they do not cap over more than one-third of 

 it at that, and it is thoroughly ripe. It is 

 placed in the same jacketed tin cans, screwed 

 up tight and put in the cellar. Why in the 

 cellar 'i Because it is the coolest place I can 

 find. " But it is damp," some one says. Of 

 course it is damp ; any cool place will be 

 damp whether it is in the cellar or in the 

 clouds. You cannot find a cool place in the 

 heat of summer and not have it damp unless 

 you have it air tight. But who cares for 

 dampness ? The cans are sealed air tight, 

 remember ; there is the point. 



Now in this same big ^tone cellar under 

 my honey house, I have an Acorn stove, 

 joint and a half high. In the upper half 

 joint I have a coil of incli gas pipe running 

 three and one-half times around the stove on 

 the inside. ( )ne end comes out just below 

 the iron frame at the: top and the other eight 

 inches lower down. They go right up 

 through the floor of the honey house into a 



