COMB HONEY. 



131 



CONTRACTION. 



Comb honey should under no circiunstances 

 be stored where it is likely to freeze, as 

 freezing contracts the wax so as to break the 

 combs and let the honey run. Mouse-traps 

 should be kept set to catcli the tirst mouse 

 that appears. 



Elsewhere under this heading we have 

 drawn attention to the importance of keep- 

 ing honey stored in a room kept, as nearly 

 as possible, at the same temperature as the 

 living-room. It should not go down to the 

 freezing-point at any time— nay, rather, it 

 should never go below 70 if it is possible 

 to arrjid it. A'arying degrees of tempera- 

 ture have a strong tendency to make honey 

 granulate: and nothing ruins comb honey 

 quicker than this. 



We made some experiments to see how 

 hot we could keep the room and not have 

 the combs melt down. We find the temper- 

 ature must not go higher than 103 F. While 

 this may seem excessively high, yet if the 

 honey begins to candy the only way to aiTest 

 the process of granulation is to bring the 

 temperature up to 103, and maintain it 

 there. Aye, there is the difficulty. We 

 accomplished it by putting steam- coils in 

 the room with sufficient radiation so that the 

 temperature can l)e held between 101 and 

 103. If it goes above the high point, an au- 

 tomatic regulator, .something on the plan of 

 an ineubator-\alve, allows the heat to es- ; 

 ca])e. As the temperature drops, this valve 

 closes. 



We ke|>t some 2000 lbs. of honey in this 

 room for two months. Some of the honey 

 had already begun to granulate, and it was 

 our hope that we could not only arrest the 

 granulation but bring the granulation back 

 to a liquid condition. In this last we were 

 disappointed, but we succeeded admirably 

 in stopping the process that would have soon 

 ruined this whole lot of honey. 



We are not sure but a temperature of lOH 

 F. might do as well, and possibly such a 

 degree would be safer for the average person 

 to use. because, if the thermometer shows 

 higher than 103, there is great danger that ■ 

 the combs will be overheated, sag. and set 

 the honey to leaking. I 



Perha])S one in a small way might be able 

 to maintain a room hot by the use of a hard- '• 

 coal stove, from which a regular heat will 

 be given off. In some instances one might 

 use furnace heat. This latter would, per- 

 haps, be advantageous in that it would pro- 

 vide for ventilation and thu.s hasten the 

 evaporation of any unripe or thin honey, 

 lint certain it is, there must be some .sort of 



automatic regulation of the heat. While 

 the heater can be controlled to a certain ex- 

 tent, it seems more feasible to let the sur- 

 plus heat escape. 



Under Extracted Hoxey will be found 

 hints on peddling honey and marketing in 

 general. See also Peddling Honey. 



CONTRACTIOlXr. A few years ago 

 contraction of the brood-nest seemed to be 

 all the rage. It was argued that most colo- 

 nies, Italians especially, after they had put 

 a little honey in the br.>od-nest, would be dis- 

 inclined to go above into the supers ; and to 

 force them above, some bee-keepers took 

 out three or four of the brood-frames below 

 and contracted the brood -nest, and then 

 placed supers on top. This was very pretty 

 in theory, and in practice it did force things. 

 It forced the bees into the supers, but moie 

 often forced swarming. 



Another set of contractionists argued in 

 favor of hiving swai-vis in a contracted 

 brood-chamber. They did not believe in 

 contracting the brood-nest in an established 

 colony ; and, therefore, when they contract- 

 ed at all they did so only during swarming 

 time. This form of contraction will certain- 

 ly be better than the other ; but as the years 

 go by we hear less and less aboiit contraction 

 and more and more about expansion — how 

 to get stocks strong— big, rousing, power- 

 ful colonies. An eight-frame brood-ne.st is 

 usually small enough. Indeed, a ten-frame 

 may be none too big. See Hives, Size ok, 

 elsewhere, for the further consideration of 

 this .subject. 



COTTON. The cotton of the Southern 

 United States is interesting to bee-keepers 

 because of the fact that some years it is 

 nectar-producing, the yield of honey being 

 considerable at such times. It is of a light 

 color, good body. Init indifferent in flavor. 

 As a rule it must be used for manufacturing 

 purposes. Considerable quantities of it are 

 offered in the market some seasons and 

 none at others. 



Cotton honey has the peculiarity, when 

 confined, of bursting the receptacle in which 

 it is held. Whether it ferments or gener- 

 ates gas has not yet been definitely deter- 

 mined. It can, however, be put into casks, 

 providing there is plenty of air-space left to 

 allow for expansion. 



CRZnfZSOM' CLOVER. See Clove u. 



CROSS BEES. See ANGER OF Bees. 



CVFRIAVr BEES. See Itali.vn.**. 



