February, 191 1. 



American ~Bee Journal 



honey which it must surely do since ex- 

 tracted honey granulates so rapidly. And 

 since this is a question of vast impor- 

 tance, especially in the more Northern 

 latitudes, or in some portions where honey 

 granulates much faster than in others, I 

 have decided to write on this subject in 

 this issue. 



When the producer of bulk comb honey 

 ships his honey he virtually gives with it 

 a guarantee that the honey will not gran- 

 ulate or candy within 30 days. This 

 guarantee is not necessarily written, but 

 implied, for the reason that this has be- 

 come a custom that is expected to be 

 understood by all producers as well as 

 honey-buyers alike. When the buyer or- 

 ders honey he expects that the producer 

 will adhere to this understanding — that 

 the honey will not candy or granulate, 

 or "turn to sugar," as it is most com- 

 monly expressed, and this is so well un- 

 derstood here in Texas that it is a rule 

 that is strictly adhered to by every reli- 

 able producer. And to be on the safe 

 side he must do so, for if his honey 

 reaches its destination in the granulated 

 condition, it may be refused by the con- 

 signee. Or, if it granulates so soon after 

 receipt that he is not able to dispose of it 

 before it granulates, there may be com- 

 plaint, and the customer is lost. 



Some honey granulates much more 

 readily than others, and unless the pro- 

 ducer is very sure that the honey he is 

 shipping out will not granulate within the 

 specified time, he would resort to heating 

 the extracted honey before sending it out 

 and taking chances. This is not always 

 necessary, since there are times when we 

 are not required to heat any of our honey, 

 but it is shipped the entire season without 

 granulating for several months after it 

 is packed. Then there are certain kinds 

 of honey that never need heating to pre- 

 vent the granulating of it for the season 

 in which it is sold. In other cases, again, 

 honey that does not generally granulate 

 very readily does do so during certain 

 seasons when the conditions are favorable 

 for it. This must then be watched for to 

 prevent trouble, but since this is seldom, 

 it can be easily overcome. 



But there are kinds of honey in some 

 localities that granulate very readily as 

 soon as extracted, although the honey 

 remains liquid in the comb. In this case 

 all the extracted honey must first be heat- 

 ed. For this work we have a specially 

 arranged furnace and heating vat, by 

 which a good deal of honey can be heated 

 during a short time. This is shown in 

 the picture herewith. The furnace is 

 easily constructed out of 6 concrete blocks 

 which are nothing but regular building 

 blocks laid on the level ground as seen. 

 On the rear end is placed a very large 

 block through which there is a large 

 elongated hole, as is found in such large 

 concrete building blocks. Over the hole 

 is set a 5-gallon lard-can or a 60-pound 

 honey-can will also do, with the bottom 

 of the can removed, of course. This is 

 for the chimney. The whole is very easi 

 ly and cheaply constructed, and serves 

 our purpose admirably. 



The large vat shown is large enough 

 to hold 6 sixty-pound cans of honey at a 

 time. These rest on a frame-work of 

 wood cleated together so the cans do not 

 touch the bottom of the vat. When the 

 cans set in the vat, and it is filled with 

 water, it does not take long to heat the 

 honey to approximately 152 degrees, Fahr., 

 which I believe to be the best tempera- 

 ture to which to heat the average honey. 

 Although some honey can stand more 

 than that, it afTects the taste of some of 

 the milder-flavored honeys. Care should 

 therefore be taken not to heat the honey 

 too much and spoil both its color and 

 flavor. 



This extracted honey is then poured 

 over the comb honey which is already 

 packed in the proper cans, while it is 

 still very warm, and thus the whole will 

 keep liquid a long time. It is understood 

 that the honey in the comb does not gran- 

 ulate for a long time, and therefore it is 

 only necessary to heat the extracted honey 

 that is poured over it. In this way I 

 have very little trouble about granulated 

 bulk comb honey, and I am sure that the 

 same principle applied in the more North- 



But this fact does not prevent the pro- 

 duction of bulk honey since the heating 

 method is used in such cases. 



By a little careful watchfulness of this 

 matter of the granulation of the hone> 

 that goes into the production of bulk 

 comb honey, knowing when to heat youi 

 honey so that it reaches the market in 

 good shape and remains so long enough 

 until it is used up, there will be no trou- 

 ble. We have just as much to fear from 

 this question in som« parts of the ex- 



.ScHOi.L's Honkv-Melting Stove and Vat. 



ern latitudes would make bulk comb honey 

 production quite as profitable as it is 

 here. 



In this connection it might be well to 

 say that some of our Southwest Texas 

 honey granulates as soon as it is thrown 

 out of the combs a few days. Sometimes 

 it does this so rapidly that when the ex- 

 tracting crew leave their work on Satur- 

 day, and resume it on the following Mon- 

 day, they find the honey in the extractor 

 and other vessels granulating very much. 



treme South as those located farther 

 North, as honey granulates rapidly, but 

 by using the necessary precautions at the 

 right times, we are not troubled about the 

 matter. That is one reason why I have 

 not hesotated about advocating the pro- 

 duction of bulk comb honey for the North. 

 However, it should be understood that it 

 would be unwise to put up very large 

 quantities of it at one time before there 

 is a sale for it — a thing that we do not 

 practice here. 



Contributed 



Articles^ 



Facts 



and Suggestions 

 Honey-Shippers 



BY HILDRETH & SEGELKEN. 



for 



Decreasing Demand for Buckwheat 

 AND Mixed Comb Honey. 



For the past few years we have ex- 

 perienced a decided falling off in the 

 demand for the above grades of comb 

 honey; last year, in particular, and this 

 season still more so. We are unable 

 to account for this, unless it is that the 

 prices have been too high for the aver- 

 age purchaser — merchant as well as 

 consumer — as we do not believe that 

 the production has increased to any 

 extent from former years. 



For the sale of buckwheat comb 

 honey we have to depend upon certain 

 territories. Many markets do not 

 want it. 



We were compelled, this season, to 

 turn down some of our old shippers 

 who expected that we would buy their 



crop, as we did in former years, and 

 they were very much surprised when 

 we would not even encourage shipment 

 of their honey on consignment, as we 

 were heavily stocked and would not 

 have been able to render them account 

 of sales in reasonable time, and cer- 

 tainly not at prices they might have 

 anticipated. 



All that is left for us to do is to dis- 

 pose of this honey at best prices ob- 

 tainable instead of carrying it indefi- 

 nitely, or holding it over for next sea- 

 son, which we consider poor policy, as 

 buckwheat honey is apt to granulate, 

 and in this case would not be worth 

 more than the extracted. 



We have certainly no desire to try 

 to discourage the producers, but we 

 must reckon with facts as they exist, 

 and our advice to New York and Penn- 

 sylvania bee-keepers is, to produce 

 extracted buckwheat instead of comb. 

 The extracted will always find a mar- 

 ket at at least fair value ; and, moreover, 

 and most important of all, can be car- 

 ried over until another season without 

 depreciation in value. 



