THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



75 



in any way. If proper care has been taken 

 the wax will remain liquid for several hours 

 but of course the length of time will vary 

 according to the amount of wax, the size of 

 the vessel and the warmth of the room. 

 When the temperature of the wax falls to 

 about 1.")") , or, in case no thermometer is at 

 hand, when the first signs of its beginning 

 to harden at the edges appear, I am pre- 

 pared with tin milk pans to receive it and 

 with the scoop to dip the wax. This is done 

 with care that the refuse below may not be 

 unnecessarily disturbed, and yet, with 

 speed, that the now rapidly falling temper- 

 ature of the wax may not interfere with the 

 completion of the work. All but from 

 half an inch to an inch in depth of the 

 wax may be dipped without greatly disturb- 

 ing the settlings, and when it is seen that 

 any of them adhere to the scoop, the dip- 

 ping is stopped and the rest of the wax is 

 left to harden where it is, when it is lifted 

 out in a cake, and what little refuse adheres 

 to the lower side may be readily scraped off 

 aud the whole batch be in good condition 

 for market. 



In this process the skimming ofif of such 

 impurities as rise to the surface just as the 

 wax begins to boil should be attended to. 



If the course indicated be familiarized 

 and practiced it is contidently believed that 

 the rendering of wax will no longer l)e con- 

 sidered a difficult or a disagreeable opera- 

 tion. 



Lapeer, Mich. March, 8, 18i)(>. 



Prospects for Future Honey Producers. — 

 Is the Earth Drying up 1 



B. TAYLOB. 



•r" 



\ 



01k «^ 



¥HAT are the 

 future pro- 

 j^pects for honey 

 producers ? Profit 

 in any productive 

 industry centers on 

 two factors, cost of 

 production and sell- 

 ing price. Produc- 

 ing comes before 

 selling, and we will 

 consider that tirst. 

 We have before this 

 pointed to the fact that, in the past, good 



hcmey crops came in connection with abun- 

 dant rainfall ; that nectar depends on vigor- 

 ous plant growth, and successful plant life 

 on adundant moisture and heal. What is 

 the prospect for future moisture in this 

 world of ours ? For facts in that direction 

 we quote from an essay by Arthur Betts of 

 the U. S. weather bureau. 



"This great world, nearly S,000 miles in 

 diameter, is porous, aud the waters of the 

 earth are sinking. Since the landing of the 

 Pilgrim fathers the Atlantic shore has re- 

 ceded nearly a mile in some places, aud the 

 Pacific shore, being more abrupt, has rece- 

 ded a few rods along tlie western shore of the 

 United States. Islands are growing larger 

 and new ones appearing. All Nature seems 

 to point forward to a time when ' there shall 

 be no more sea. ' 



I came to Webster, South Dakota, in 1882, 

 and next May I will complete 14 years of 

 continuous records in the Weather Service 

 on my farm, near the village. I have seen 

 great changes come over this country. We 

 who live on this great central plain, where 

 the water supplies are limited, can witness 

 in a few years what others living farther 

 ea-t can hardly notice in a lifetime. Lakes 

 that were deep enough to float canoes 14 

 years ago are now dried up, and only a few 

 of the very largest are now in existence. 

 The old lake beds are now good meadows, 

 and some are under the plow. The water 

 level has sunk about 10 feet below the bed 

 of ttie lakes. The good meadow lands of 

 1SS2 have had their day and are now being 

 changed into grain fields. 



The rushes and cat-tail flags, formerly so 

 abundant, have also passed away, and the 

 trees of the uplands are dying out. The 

 waters are sinking beyond the reach of evap- 

 oration. 



Artesian wells will yet have to be used as 

 a means of irrigation over these great west- 

 ern plains. I have found petrified shells on 

 the upland, and four feet under ground in 

 the sand ; and I have even found them on 

 the stony points of the highest hills — all of 

 which carries me back in my thoughts to 

 the day 



' When around the North Pole grew bananas 



and willows, 

 And inastodous fought with great armadiiloee. 

 For the pineapples grown in Alaska. ' 



Tlie waterfall here is certainly growing 

 les^ ; it is not w lat it u-ed to be. 



Following is the precipitation for each of 

 the past lo years, beginning with June, 1882: 

 44..'>'i. 4(),(i4. .W.TC, 4.5.'2ti. :^9.(;8, 2.5.02, 

 2(;.70. ;^().8(!, 4^.88, 84.81, 32.44, 26.3,'"> 

 and 18,08. 



This has been an excellent agricultural re- 

 gion, and farmers in those early years made 

 enormous profits off their farms : but now 

 everything is at its lowest ebb, and many of 

 the citizens are becoming discouraged. 



We can see that it would take years to 

 to bring the water level back to what it was 

 formerly, even if we had good rains from 

 month to month 



