Janttaet, 1908 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



295 



■or not before the first examination in spring 

 can be made, it is the wisest thing to give 

 combs of sealed honey. Though a few bee- 

 keepers have made a success of feeding 

 liquid honey or sugar syrup in winter, too 

 often bad results follow. 



If sealed combs of honey are not available, 

 then the best thing to do is to give the feed 

 in the form of candy. There are two kinds 

 of " bee candy, " hard and soft, but I will give 

 directions for making only the hard kind, 

 as it gives best results. 



HOW TO MAKE BEE CANDY 



As many pounds of white granulated 

 sugar as "bee candy" is wanted must be 

 melted with hot water. Use just as little 

 water as will liquify the sugar, for an excess 

 of water must be again removed by boiling. 

 Boil the liquid over a slow fire until it will 

 harden, when cool, into a solid cake. If not 

 boiled long enough it may run and daub the 

 bees when subjected to the heat of the hive. 

 This would kill many of them. If, on the 

 other hand, the syrup is over boiled, the 

 candy may be so hard that the bees cannot 

 take it, or at least, much of it will be wasted. 

 Candy properly cooked has the appearance 

 of paraffin, it will be slightly translucent. 

 The best way to tell when the candy has 

 boiled enough is to drop some into cold water 

 and note the degree of hardness. 



When the candy has cooked sufficiently, 

 pour it into pans lined with paper or which 

 have been greased to prevent the candy from 

 sticking. 



In making the candy, great care must be 

 taken not to burn the syrup, for burnt candy 

 is death to bees in winter, or at a time when 

 they cannot fly. 



To feed the bees lay pieces of the candy 

 on pieces of wood about one-fourth of an 

 inch thick on top of the brood frames. Of 

 course, a comb honey super must be put on 

 the hive to give room for the candy. Put 

 enough candy to last the bees till warm 

 weather in the super, on a thin board — one- 

 quarter of an inch thick — cover it with a 

 piece of enameled cloth and then fill the 

 empty place about it with chaff or some 

 other packing material so that the heat of 

 the hive cannot escape. 



Wis. F. A. Stroschein. 



Protecting Birds from Cats 



ABOUT April ist a pair of bluebirds 

 made their appearance at our home, 

 and, in the absence of trees, their favorite 

 perches were the house roof and the tall pole 

 in the yard, to which is attached the clothes 

 line. The birds' presence suggested the 

 desirability of having them aid us in the war 

 against bugs and insects in our garden during 

 the summer. The bluebirds are very valuable 

 tenants, as their food consists largely of 

 insects and they do not destroy the fruit and 

 berries in the garden. During odd moments, 

 I made a bird house, using a small box and 

 a few pieces of board as follows: 



The box was about eight inches square 

 and about ten inches deep. The upper 

 portion was sawed off, on a bevel, leaving the 



back of the box about eight inches deep and 

 the front about seven inches. A board eight 

 inches wide and twelve inches long was 

 nailed to the back of the box, so that it 

 extended about two inches at both top and 

 bottom, and nails were later driven through 

 this projecting part to secure the house to 

 the pole. A hole two inches in diameter was 

 made in the front to serve as an entrance and 

 two holes about three-fourths of an inch in 

 diameter, in the upper corner of each side, pro- 

 vided necessary ventilation. A board about 

 ten inches wide served as a roof, being cut to 

 fit the piece in the back and to project about 

 three inches over the front of the house, to 

 serve as a protection to the entrance. A nar- 

 row strip of wood, nailed to the bottom of the 

 box, extended far enough to make a doorstep. 

 The house was fastened to the pole fifteen 

 feet from the ground, with the entrance facing 

 southeast as a protection against the wind and 

 rain. The house was painted gray to make 

 it harmonize with the weathered chestnut. 



A piece of tin tightly wrapped round the pole six feet 

 from the ground Keeps cats from the bird's nest 



Within a few hours after the house was 

 completed the bluebirds were inspecting 

 their new home and soon began carrying 

 material for the nest. 



We were rejoicing over our success, when 

 two black cats belonging to a neighbor spied 

 the birds. One immediately took up its 

 station on the roof of the new home and the 

 other clung to the pole just below it. We 

 were tempted to make it a first and last visit 

 for the cats, but not wishing to harm our 

 neighbor's pets and perhaps cause a break 

 in our friendly relations with their owners, 

 I tried the simple and effective remedy of 

 wrapping tightly about the pole, six feet from 

 the ground, a section of old stove pipe, about 

 two feet long, and securely fastening it with 

 nails. A coat of paint made it hardly dis- 

 tinguishable from the pole itself. 



Before the paint was dry, one of the cats 

 that had been making frequent dashes up 

 the pole, to the great annoyance of the birds, 

 made a rush and went up the pole as far as 



the tin, when her claws failed to hold and 

 she fell back to the ground, surprised and 

 no doubt wondering what had happened. 

 Another attempt was made later, with more 

 caution and then the lesson was learned. 

 Our birds found that they were protected 

 from interruptions in their home duties and 

 raised their brood successfully. 



Connecticut. A. C. Hall. 



Making Sweet-Scented Candles 



CANDLES made of bayberry wax impart 

 a delightful odor to the room in which 

 they are burned and are particularly fragrant 

 after being extinguished. The greenish 

 colored wax from which they are made is 

 collected from the drupes or berries of the 

 bayberry or wax myrtle (Myrica cerijera) by 

 boiling them, the wax rising to the top of 

 the water where it can be skimmed off. The 

 berries may be gathered any time after Sep- 

 tember ist. A bushel of berries will yield 

 between four and five pounds of wax. 



To make the candles, suspend the wicks 

 from an iron ring over a large basin con- 

 taining the liquid wax, and ladle the wax 

 over the wicks. The candles are taken 

 down when the proper thickness has been 

 acquired and rolled out on a table, or a slab 

 of marble if it is convenient, and are then 

 cut and trimmed in the regulation way. 

 When making these candles by hand, the 

 wax is kept in hot water and applied to the 

 hanging wick by successive ladlings. 



An easier way to make these is to use 

 candle molds which may be purchased at 

 small cost. The wick is suspended in the 

 centre of the mold and the wax is poured in 

 until the mold is filled. The wax must be 

 allowed to become cold before removing. 

 This is a much quicker way to make bay- 

 berry candles and would probably be more 

 satisfactory in the end. 



Massachusetts. Phineas Nolte. 



The white, waxy berries of the bayberry. which 

 the colonists about Massachusetts Bay used for maK- 

 ing candles. The candles are green and aromatic 

 while burning, filling the room with a pleasant odor 



