Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-12-19

the cards are lined most of the bees are shak-
en- OF by quick yet gentle jerk and the 10
mainder sre brushed Oh with light feather
brush. This full card is put into an empty
hive brought for the purpose on . wheel
barrow, and an empty card put into its
place in the hive. In this way al the cards
are exchanged and the full cards are wheeled
to the honey house. The honey being ak
tracted from them they are taken empty to
the next hive to be exchanged for full ones
in turn, and thus the work goes on till al
the hives have been attended to-.
The honey is extracted by frsl uncapping
the cells with long-bladed knife, made ex-
pressly for the purpose, and throwing the
honey out BY centrifugal force.
The extractor is an upright cylinder Of
galvanized iron in which is set frame for
holding the combs, geared similarly to the
fans of II fanning-mill. The outside Of this
frame is wire-cloth, against which the cards
are set on their edges in such position that
the mouths of the in-capped cells are out to-
ward the cylinder. By few quick turns the
honey is thrown from the comb and runs OF
into n reservoir below, from which it ID
drawn into square tin cans and hermetri-
cally sealed. These cans hold five gallons
(sixty pounds) each, and two of ttem .re
nailed up in box, called . case. The honey
ID then ready for market
BY extracting the honey and returning the
combs great saving of labor to the bees is
effected, since the time they would need to
mske new comb is employed in gathering
honey. It is estimated that the time and
labor of making one pound of comb would
collect twelve pounds Of honey.
After the comb has been used two or
three years it becomes stained and the walls
of the cells thickened. 1t is then thought
best to have new comb. And here again
the bees have been assisted by the busy
brain and cunning hand Of man. Sheets Of
wax are formed by dipping . mould into
melted Wax. This mould il . Eastwood
board from no other wood does the wax seem
to cleave so readily ofconvenient size--say
foot wide and foot and q half in length. A
few dippings-similar TO dipping candles
deposits a sheet Of the requisite thickness.
The wax is split at the edge Of the mould
and is taken off in sheet. The sheets are
then run through rollers which indent the
exact size and shape of the basis ofthe honey
cells.
From these sheet. cards are cut just to fit
the movable frames, into which they are c.
mented with'melted wax. This foundation,
as it is termed, is made thick enough to con-
tain wax sufficient to make the
sides Of the cells, and when it
is given to the bees, they
have all their material at hand, and at once
90 to work drawing out the wax into the
requisite shape. The best honey / ever saw,
thick and almost as transparent as water. is
selling now a: five cents per pound.
Train loads of honey have been shipped
from Los Angel es. and there is good deal
of honey in store, held for higher prices.
Bees have but few enemies here; moths
trouble some, but by keeping the colonies
strong, and especially by using Italian
queens, which produce more hardy, vigor-
! GUS bee, no trouble is had. Foul brood is
really the only thing dreaded; this comes
from contagion, and the only sure remedy
so far known, is to burn up the infected
hive, bees, brood, honey, comb and all.
The black and cinnamon bears have been
known to visit apiaries and destroy some
hives, bit good, substantial, barbed wire
fence around the premises proves an effect
ual barrier against them.
Speaking of Italian bees, our leading bee
men import them often from Italy, some
times successfully, sometimes otherwise. As
an instance Of the latter, q nan sent
TO Italy for six queens. When
they reached him four were dead, as
they had been delayed by the washouts
on the A. 7. & St. F. K r., when in transit.
One of the two remaining queens died short
ly after and the living queen is all he has to
show for S43.5O, the original cost, and e1-
press charges.
On the 18th we had showers during the
night, accompanied with quite decided NUT
terings of thunder, and We have had some
showers during to-day, and the weather is
still unsettled. As anticipated, the peaks
have donned their snowy caps, and the
higher ones are whitened well down their
sides. The view from a hilltop after one Of
our rains is charming. To the north and
east. stretch the mountains wrapped in their
snowy shrouds, in the foreground are the
dark, wrinkled hills, and toward the south
and west, stretches the level valley beyond
which, in plain view, rolls the Pacific dotted
with the Santa Barbara islands.
Wishing you merry Christmas" and =
"Happy New Year." close.
JUSTIN NJ. COPELAND.