398 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1918 



BEWARE FERMENTED HONEY 



danger of Spoiling the Year's 



Work by TSlpt Waiting Till the 



Bees Have opened the Honey 



By H. H. Root 



DU E I N G 

 these days 

 when the 

 slogan of every 

 beekeeper is to 

 produce more 

 honey, there is 

 grave danger 

 that quality 

 may be lost 

 sight of in the pursuit of quantity. 



There are beekeepers who begin extract- 

 ing as soon as the bees start sealing over 

 the cells; others count it perfectly safe to 

 extract as soon as the honey is one-fourth 

 to one-half sealed; still others will not ex- 

 tract until the majority of combs are practi- 

 cally sealed, when none of them are less 

 than three-fourths sealed. 



Probably not one beekeeper in a hundred 

 can tell by the taste or appearance whether 



duced. The su- 

 preme test 

 comes when hon- 

 ey is kept past 

 January and 

 February, on into 

 March and April. 

 The illustra- 

 tion shows part 

 of a lot of honey 

 (granulated hard, when first bought) which, 

 tho kept in a warm, dry room, fermented 

 and expanded as shown. This honey was 

 not extremely sour to the taste, and yet 

 there was a very perceptible flavor of fer- 

 mentation, practically ruining the whole lot. 

 Some one extracted the honey too green, 

 thereby doing the whole industry incalcula- 

 ble harm. The mere fact that the honey is 

 granulated hard at first is not by any means 

 proof that it is fully ripe. Remember that 



li('r( U( -oiuc results 



extracted honey, when put up in cans and 

 kept in a dry place, is proof against fermen- 

 tation. So far as the taste and appearance 

 are concerned, honey that is not quite ripe 

 enough when extracted comes so near to 

 that which is fully ripened that the begin- 

 ner at least is tempted to tliink it all fool- 

 ishness to wait until the combs are three- 

 fourths sealed over. Eight here is where the 

 great mistake is made, for it is penny wise 

 and pound foolish to extract honey not tho- 

 roly ripened, no matter what the circum- 

 stances are. 



It is impossible for all honey to find its 

 way to the home of the consumer within six 

 or even nine months from the time it is pro- 



if c'Ntraet iiiu;' unripe lioney. 



this particular honey was apparently all 

 right in November. 



Strange to say western honey is not as 

 likely to ferment when kept over into 

 March, April, and May as is eastern honey. 

 This may be because the western producers 

 are more careful, during extracting, not to 

 take unsealed honey; or, it may be due to 

 the drier air, prevailing in the west. If it 

 is the fault of the beekeeper, let this fact 

 be heralded from the house tops: one can 

 not extract partially ripened honey withoul 

 being the loser in the end. The first year 

 a man may get as much for his honey as the 

 other fellow, but he has done the whole in- 

 dustry (including the other fellow and him- 



