COMB HONEY. 



124 



COMB HONEY. 



called "greasy'' or "water-soaked, 'Miaving 

 cuppings that lie on the honey. The cover- 

 ing to each cell is more or less transparent, or 

 water-soaked — the transparent pait being 

 half-moon shaped, or in the form of a ring 

 encircling a white nucleus center that is not 

 greasy or transparent. 



If the reader will look over the unsold 

 odds and ends of the grocer's he will be able 

 to find samples of all these classes, and the 

 fall of the year is a good time to find them, 

 as they are tlie last to sell. 



A knowledge of how to make dark or 

 soiled sections No. 1 white, thus putting 

 them at the top of the market, may be worth 

 iuindreds of dollars to some bee-keepers ; 

 and wliile it is probably not possible to 

 make water -soaked and certain kinds of 

 travel - stained sections white, there is a 

 probability that a very large class of the 

 soiled boxes can be rendered No. 1. 



BLEACHING COMB HONEY. 



Mr. Byron Walker, a honey-merchant of 

 Chicago, had quite accidentally placed some 

 yellow or pollen-stained sections in his show- 

 window, where they were subjected to the 

 direct rays of sunlight. A short time after, 

 he noticed that the faces of these sections 

 that were next to the light were bleached 

 white, while those on the reverse side re- 

 tained the old color. Instantly grasping at 

 tlie suggestion he placed other sections of 

 tlie same kind in the same window, and was 

 gi-atified to learn that these v/ere likewise 

 bleached as were the first; but so far as I 

 know, Mr. Walker was successful in bleach- 

 ing pollen -stained or yellow -faced combs 

 only. The real travel-stained and water- 

 soaked ones he considered beyond redemp- 

 tion. The time required to bleach the yellow 

 sections was anywhere from two to thrte 

 days, depending on weather and sunlight. 



Mr. A. E. White, of Pala, California, 

 ai)parently goes one step further; for in 

 connection with simlight he uses suli)hur, 

 which is known to be a powerful bleaching 

 agent. His method is described as follows : 



"We first fumigate with sulphur, then 

 place the combs where the sun will shine 

 on them, and that is the whole process. 



" I build a frame on the south side of my 

 lioney-house, and cover the same with cot- 

 ton cloth. A door opens from the honey- 

 house into this room. I place shelves on the 

 side and ends of this room, the bottom shelf 

 being a wide board to be used as a table. I 

 place the combs on these shelves so that the 

 sunlight will strike them. Dark combs will 



require several hours. This plan will whiten 

 dark combs here in California. If you fumi- 

 gate a few combs, then place them on a win- 

 dow-sill where the sun will shine on them, 

 you will be convinced. 



white's bleaching - HOUSE FOR SOILED 

 COMB HONEY. 



" In placing the sections on shelves in the 

 morning, I find the following plan good : 

 On the shelves at the east and west end of 

 the room I place sections end to end length- 

 wise of the shelves, two rows on each shelf, 

 one row on the outer and the other on the 

 inner edge. The morning sun strikes one 

 side, and the afternoon sun the other side. 



WHITE S SULPHUR - BOX FOR BLEACHING. 



On the front shelves I set them crosswise of 

 the shelf, far enough apart so as not to shade 

 each other. 



" I pack them away every evening; all not 

 white I put out again next morning. Some 

 of them will bleach quite slowly, but I have 

 been able to whiten the worst ones by per- 

 severance." 



SHIPPING-CASES FOR COMB HONEY 



Just as soon as the crop of honey has been 

 secured and the sections scraped, they should 

 be put immediately into shipping-cases, pro- 

 vided there is no storage room that is bee- 

 proof. The cases should be glassed on one 

 side. In order that the fragile condition of 

 the contents of the case when filled with 

 comb honey may be apparent to freiglit- 

 handlers, dealer, and consumer. 



