17 



Care of Honey. 



The average housekeeper will put honey in the cellar for safe keep- 

 ing- — about the worst place possible. Honey readily attracts moisture, 

 and in the cellar extracted honey will become thin, and in time may sour; 

 and with comb honey the case is still worse, for the appearance as well 

 as the quality is changed. Instead of keeping honey in a place moist 

 and cool, keep it dry and warm, even hot. It will not hurt to be in a 

 temperature of even ioo°'. Where salt will keep dry is a good place 

 for honey. Few places are better than the kitchen cupboard. Up in 

 a hot garret next the roof is a good place, and if it has had enough hot 

 days there through the summer it will stand the freezing of winter; lor 

 under ordinary circumstances freezing cracks the combs, and hastens 

 granulation or candying. 



Candied Honey. If honey be kept for any length of time, espec- 

 ially during cold weather, it has a tendency to change from its original 

 beautiful liquid transparency to a white semi-solid granular condition ; 

 and when it is thus changed, bee-keepers call it "granulated" or "can- 

 died." Sometimes it is candied so solid that when in a barrel the head 

 has to be taken off, and the honey removed by the spadeful. But its 

 candied condition is not to be taken as an evidence against its genuine- 

 ness or purity, but rather to the contrary, for the adulterated honeys are 

 less liable to candy than those that are pure. Some prefer honey in 

 the candied state ; but the majority prefer liquid. 



It is an easy matter to restore it to its former liquid condition. Simply 

 keep it in hot water long enough, but not too hot. If heated above 

 i6o p there is danger of spoiling the color and ruining the flavor. Re- 

 member that honey contains the most delicate of all flavors — that of the 

 flowers from which it is taken. A good way is to set the vessel con- 

 taining the honey inside another vessel containing hot water, not allow- 

 ing the bottom of the one to rest directly on the bottom of the other, but 

 putting a bit of shingle or something of the kind between. Let it stand 

 on the stove, but do not let the water boil. It may take half a day 

 or longer to melt the honey. If the honey is set directly on the reser- 

 voir of a cook-stove it will be all right in a few days. In time it will 

 granulate. 



Various Uses of Honey. 



Aside from its use in an unchanged state as a direct accompaniment 

 of bread or biscuit, honey is used by bakers in manufacturing some of 

 their choicest wares. An advantage in using honey for anything in the 

 line of cake is its keeping qualities. Even if the cake should become 

 dry, close it up in a bread-can for a time and its freshness will return. 



Honey is used in medicines, and is the base of many of the cough 

 cures and salves. For candy, honey is far more wholesome than cane 

 sugar. 



2 — 146. 



