Octouki;. 191fi 



fil.KANINGS IN B K K U I, T U K K 



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FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE'-li^i 



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CONVERSATIONS with DOOLITTLE 



Caring for Comb Honey — How to Have in Best 

 Condition for the Market 



"Will 3'ou give us something further re- 

 garding removing comb honey from the 

 hive, storing the same, and getting it rctidy 

 for market? Remember many of the read- 

 ers of Gleanings are not uj) in these things 

 as are you old fellows who have kept bees 

 for from 30 to 50 years." 



A croi3 of fine comb honey may be greatly 

 lessened in value by lack of knowledge or 

 care in the harvesting, storing, and prepar- 

 ing for market. What I shall write will 

 probably contain nothing new or Etartlhig, 

 but a repetition of the things that some need 

 to hear often to secure the best results when 

 working for comb or section honey. After 

 the honey harvest has been on a week or 

 so the sujjers should be looked after, and, 

 where the sections in any are capped over, 

 they should be taken off and supers of 

 empty sections given, if more room is need- 

 ed. To have the honey in the best shape to 

 sell, it should be removed from the hive as 

 soon as it is capped over. The beautiful 

 cajipings are then white and very inviting 

 to the eye. Eemember that looks has very 

 much to do with a fancy article cf section 

 honey. As the white-honey harvent in the 

 Middle and Northern States is secured from 

 white and alsike clover and basswood, less 

 surplus room should be given as it nears its 

 close, for by the contraction of space more 

 sections will be completed than in the larger 

 spaces, and we desire to get all the finest 

 comb honey possible. At the close of surplus 

 gathering from the above sources, all the 

 supers should be removed. 



For the best results in storing, a warm, 

 dry, and airy room is essential. Tliis room 

 should have two windows so situated that 

 the sunlight can be admitted, and a good 

 circulation of air. The building should by 

 no means be in the shade, for the hot sun- 

 shine and dry air of summer will, when in 

 motion, do much to still better ripen the 

 honey. The building should be one foot or 

 more above ground and have a wood floor, 

 and be so situated that the air can freely 

 circulate all about underneath, so no damp- 

 ness shall come from the earth below. Some 

 suppose that the floor to a honey-house should 

 be of concrete or cement of some kind, but 

 this is a mistake. During the night, such a 

 floor takes on the temperature of the ground 

 underneath, and, when the morning sunshine 

 and warm air strike this cool or cold floor, 

 the concrete takes on a dampness, or begins 

 to "sweat," as it is often termed. This in 

 a great measure will overcome the warm, 

 dry air we have planned to let in, and our 

 nice combs of honey will soon begin to 



' ' sweat ' ' also, so that the nice white cap- 

 j)ings will take on a watery appearance, 

 which will be very detrimental to the looks. 

 A strong rack should be nuide on which to 

 place the honey, and preferably on each side 

 of the room so that an alley-way can be 

 had, as it will least interfere with the 

 working room. This rack should be one foot 

 above the floor, so the air may freely pass 

 beneath it. A row of supers should first 

 be put on, and on top of these, at the front 

 and back, strips one inch square should be 

 placed ; and this should be continued in the 

 same way until the space is filled to within 

 a few inches of the ceiling, if necessary. 

 All of the fancy should be stored in a body. 

 No. 1, 2, and the dark the same, so that we 

 need not have the different grades all mixed 

 up when we come to getting it ready for 

 market. At the time the honey is taken 

 in, place it to one side, and the next 

 morning, when it has cooled, clean off the 

 projiolis and wax from the supers and sec- 

 tions at top and bottom, so far as can be, 

 and tier them up on the rack in their proper 

 places. Storing the honey in this way, the 

 warm air circulates freely all thru and be- 

 tween the supers and sections. The honey is 

 thus left till time to prepare it for market. 

 This is generally about the first of Sep- 

 tember. 



To handle and case comb honey properly 

 requires much care. The delicate combs are 

 easily cut or bruised, and a little careless- 

 ness will result in leaky and dripping honey. 

 The fancy honey is usually' cased first, and 

 the case labeled, ' ' fancy. ' ' That not so white 

 in comb is styled No. 1. That a little color- 

 ed by the bees, and combs not so complete, 

 is called No. 2. Then the buckwheat or fall 

 honey may be cased in the same way as to 

 grade, but it is very often put all together 

 and styled as ' ' dark. ' ' The honey in the 

 cases of each grade should be uniform in 

 looks and quality. The honey next the 

 glass in each case should be no nicer than 

 that in the center part. In other words, it 

 should be cased so that to see the combs 

 next the glass, as it stands in our honey 

 room, the store, or commission house, may 

 be an evidence of the quality of the whole 

 case without further inspection. When hon- 

 ey is so put up, the purchaser, whether gro- 

 cer or consumer, can take it and handle it 

 comb by comb with satisfaction in selling or 

 or using. Every beekeeper has his own 

 reputation to build or hold. If he 

 expects good sales in the future, his 

 goods should be as represented bv the 

 honey in full view in each case. The par- 

 tially filled supers taken off at the close of 

 the white harvest should be looked over, and 

 all complete sections cased for sale in the 

 grade best suited for them. Sections only 

 partly filled should be massed in other su- 



