THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



45 



1 have had in use for the last dozeu years 

 or more a vessel similarly coustructed to 

 the one he describes, for the par{)ose of lique- 

 fying and (•//j«;ii»iy honey. WlienI wish to 

 simply liquefy candied honey, however, I 

 emyloy a different vessel. It is much more 

 convenient and will do the work as ett'actu- 

 ally and safely, as the specially constructed 

 can will do. Indeed its use saves one the 

 most disagreeable part of the work, name- 

 ly, transferring the candied honev from its 

 receptacle into the liquefying can. It is one 

 too that is found in every household. I 

 iner.u a common wash-boiler. In shape it is 

 what may be called an oblong-oval, the bot- 

 tom of which is depressed an inch or more to 

 fit into two pot-holes, and the intervening 

 space of a common cook stove. Around 

 this depression there is a raised margin a 

 couple of inches wide. Upon the inner sida 

 of this margin and running parallel with the 

 sides of the boiler, lay a strip of iron or 

 wood upon which to rest the bottom of the 

 vessels containing the honey to be liquified. 

 This boiler will take in two sixty- pound tins 

 of candied honey with sufficient space 

 around, and under them for the water. 

 Set the boiler on the stove with a little water 

 on it, and place the tins or crocks of candied 

 honey in it, then pour sufficient water into 

 the boiler to surround the honey tins till 

 within an inch or so of their tops, and you 

 will have as complete a water-bath for lique- 

 fying candied honey as can well be made. 

 Nearly a ton of candied may be thus lique- 

 fied in a day by the simple use of a wash 

 boiler and a cook stove, and with as little 

 danger of scorching the honey as there is by 

 any other method that may be employed. 

 When the honey in the tins is liquefied, re- 

 move the tins from the boiler ( the boiler 

 need not be taken oft the stove) and 

 place them by two other tins of candied 

 houey. Now pour the hot honey into an ex- 

 tractor can, draw it off into tins or glasses, 

 cork them tightly, running some liquid 

 plaster of paris, or bottle wax over and 

 around the corks and your honey will remain 

 liquid for an indefinite time. If corked or 

 sealed when hot the honey will not re-candy 

 so long as the air is kept excluded. I open- 

 ed a " Mason-jir " of honey the other day 

 put up in 1888, that was treated in this way 

 and it was as liquid as the day it was poured 

 into the glass bottle. It was, however, per- 

 ceptibly darker in color, which leads me to 

 believe that exposure to light for a length- 



ened period, has some such effect on the 

 color of honey as Mr. Taylor found slightly 

 overheating to have. 



I am of the opinion, however, that houey 

 drawn off at 140 F. will not insure perma 

 neut liquefaction under any conditions, be- 

 cause crystalizatiou will not be completely 

 destroyed at this degree of heat ; although 

 sufficiently liquid to run through a strainer- 

 cloth, the nuclei of crystals will still exist, 

 and their affinity for surrounding molecule 

 will strongly manifest itself in the honey 

 re-candying. 



My own experience is that honey heated 

 up to 160= F. will destroy granulation and in- 

 sure its remaining in a liquid state if kept 

 under the conditions above mentioned, and 

 not perceptibly affect either its color or 

 flavor. 



Owen Sound. Ont. Jan.J.'JO 1896. 



Artificial Combs— Some Interesting Facts 

 Established by Their Use. 



L. A. ASPINWALL. 



^l 



[E conception 

 of artificially 

 made combs that 

 may be introduced 

 into, and constitute 

 a part of the comb- 

 structure of the 

 hive, is not new. 

 Langstroth, in the 

 first edition of his 

 work, suggested 

 making them of 

 gutta-percha. Quin- 

 by experimented largely, using very thin tin. 

 Paper has also been used experimentally. 



As conception in the animal kingdom pre- 

 ceeds the embryo growth and birth ; so in 

 the mechanical and inventive world, we 

 find a striking analogy. The idea or con- 

 ception of anything generally preceeds the 

 invention, by reason of its necessity — hence 

 the adage — '• Necessity is the mother of in- 

 vention. " 



The history of most inventions record im- 

 perfect ideas or principles as preceeding 

 the correct methods, varying in periods of 

 time which often exceed a century or more. 

 The mower was not developed until a lapse 

 of one hundred years after the first attempt. 



