1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



413 



Notwithstanding B. F. Southwlck & Co. did well 

 with the honey I sold them that year, I have never 

 been able to sell them any since, owing to the fact 

 that, since then, the price has been so fluctuating, 

 and also that the bee-keepers of New England seem 

 to prefer to consign their honey, or, at least, they 

 do so without making any attempt to sell outright, 

 and I have found it rather up-hill business to estab- 

 lish the custom above; hence I have been obliged 

 to consign my honey each year since the year above 

 referred to. Although Messrs. B. F. S. & Co. have, 

 so far as I know, been square and honorable with 

 me, and make quick returns, I should much prefer 

 to sell my honey at home, and have it done with. 



Bristol, Vt. A. E. Manum. 



Well done, old friend. Why, you will get 

 able to write a book if you keep on at this 

 rate. Now, there is one great moral in 

 your very interesting story. It is this : 

 There is nothing that helps a man to sell 

 goods like being very conversant with the 

 details of the commodity he is handling. 

 And the emphatic injunction in regard to 

 honest grading is a great truth. A reputa- 

 tion is much easier lost than gained, and 

 much harder to be gained when lost than to 

 have kept it. 



RIPENING OP EXTRACTED HONEY. 



ARTIFICIALLY RIPENED JUST AS GOOD AS THE 

 HONEY RIPENED IN THE HIVE. 



Mr. Holtermann, on page 87, says that the col- 

 or of honey is probably affected by being stored in 

 dark combs. Further on he tells us he leaves his 

 honey intended for exhibition on the hive until a 

 few days before such exhibition, and then extracts 

 it. In this way, he says, he secures the ripest hon- 

 ey, and that "no one will admit that honey some 

 time off the hive and out of the comb is of any bet- 

 ter flavor than that just taken off; and further, that 

 such honey is not alfected as to color, if stored in 

 white combs. 



There are several mistakes In the above, I think. 

 At least o/ie man does admit and argue that honey 

 may be improved off the hive, and, indeed, should 

 be. I would call Mr. Holtermann's attention to my 

 former article on page 48, Jan. 15. In addition I 

 will add a few thoughts. 



In his foot-note, the editor corroborates what I 

 have quoted. He says that well-ripened honey is 

 less liable to candy than that which is extracted be- 

 fore it is sealed. That the most thoroughly ripen- 

 ed honey is the last to candy, other things being 

 equal, I agree. But to the idea that it must be ex- 

 tracted before it is ripened, I say emphatically, no. 

 Last summer I extracted my first honey near the 

 close of the wet spell we had in June. During that 

 period, honey came in about as thin and rank as I 

 ever tasted it. Nearly half of this honey was un- 

 sealed. I put it in lard-cans and stooe jars, covered 

 with cloth, and set them where the sun would pour 

 in through the south window upon them, and left 

 the honey to couk. In the fall this was among the 

 thickest, richest honey 1 had, and the last to candy. 

 And why should it not be so? If honey ripens by 

 staying on the hive, what is it that does the work? 

 What is the process of ripening honey, any way? 

 Does it not consist in evaporating the water and 

 intensifying the body of the honey? Is it not this 

 concentration of the essential elements of honey 



that constitutes its richness? And if so in either 

 case, are not the conditions essential to this ripen- 

 ing process as well secured in a warm dry honey- 

 house as in the hive? I claim from experience 

 that they are present to even a greater degree. I 

 see no way out of this conclusion unless it be in 

 the vague, improbable guess that some chemical 

 change takes place in the hive. I do not say that 

 honey will not ripen in the hive, but I do say that 

 the essential conditions— heat and dryness— must 

 be present. In other words, the hive must stand in 

 the sun, and be as near proof against outside 

 dampness as possible. Honey remaining on hives 

 densely shaded keeps thin, and ac(juire8 that moldy 

 flavor spoken of by the editor on page i'-K 

 the coloring of honey. 



Now a word as to the coloring of honey. That 

 honey standing long in old black combs will become 

 dark, is no doubt true. But it will do the same 

 thing in new combs. I have put two sections of 

 honey in a dish, one of which was beautifully white, 

 the other considerably travel-stained from re- 

 maining on the hive. When they were cut into, the 

 honey in the travel-stained comb was perceptibly 

 darker than that in the others. This, coupled with 

 the fact that honey extracted from old combs, pret- 

 ty soon after it is stored, is as light as any, seems 

 to prove that honey will turn dark by standing in 

 the hive, whether stored in black or white combs. 

 Now, what is the cause of this? Can it be some 

 mysterious chemical process that goes on there? 

 Who can throw some light on the matter? 



George F. Robbins. 



Mechanicsburg, 111., Feb. 3. 



Friend R., how large are those stone jars? 

 I can readily imagine that, if they held not 

 to exceed a gallon apiece, and if set in a 

 south window, without curtains, during the 

 hot days of July and August, the honey 

 would evaporate or ripen until it acquired 

 any desired thickness. And is not this a 

 hint as to the cheapest way we can ripen 

 raw honey V Well-ripened honey is certain- 

 ly a little darker than green raw honey. I 

 have seen basswood honey almost as clear 

 as spring water, and so thin that you could 

 almost drink it like spring water. When 

 thoroughly ripened, however, it was quite 

 dark, comparatively. 



PEDDLING HONEY. 



extracted ; preventing granulation a 

 failure. 



Mr. J. A. Buchanan's article in Gleanings, 

 March 1, has called forth a few thoughts in my 

 mind which may be of interest to the producers 

 and sellers of honey, or, more particularly, extract- 

 ed honey. If we prevent honey from candying by 

 sealing hot, or by mixing, what shall we say to 

 those who have been taught that pure honey granu- 

 lates, and impure honey does not? and when a visit- 

 or comes to your apiary, and sees your operations, 

 how will you prevent his being confirmed in the 

 idea now prevalent, that all honey is bogus? Pre- 

 venting granulation by sealing hot has not worked 

 satisfactorily with me. Some one wishes to see 

 how the honey tastes. The sealing is not done 

 perfectly, and then your honey granulates. Con- 

 sumer, who thinks it should be clear, observes 

 \slthasmile, "He got too much sugar in it that 



