856 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



and any dripping- is caught on the pan. 

 Now, then, we are ready for the bottling. 

 We must understand that the honey in this 

 large can is cold. If, however, it can be 

 stood near the stove or a coil of pipes, all 

 the better, for honey will '"un freer when it 

 is warm. 



We now need a square or oblong galvau- 

 ized-iron pan as large as the whole top of 

 the stove, with perpendicular sides, and 

 about six or seven inches deep. If a gaso- 

 line-stove is used, the pan should be as 

 long and as broad as the top ; and if the 

 three burners are on the same level, all the 

 better. The pan should be just about the 

 depth of an ordinary Mason jar ; or, rather, 

 the depth of the deepest packag-e to be used 

 for bottling purposes. A false bottom of 

 coarse wire cloth should be secured about 

 half an inch above the bottom proper by 

 means of suitable stays. This is for the pur- 

 pose of providing a circulation of water 

 under the bottoms of the bottles of honey, 

 for otherwise they might break. Fill the 

 pan about half full of water, and set it on 

 the stove. When the water registers about 

 180 according to the thermometer, set into 

 the tray, on the false bottom of wire cloth, 

 the bottles of honey that have just been 

 filled from the large filling-tank above 

 referred to. When the pan is full of bottles 

 placed close together, the water should be 

 raised to within about an inch of the top of 

 the bottles. Let them stand in the hot 

 water until the honey in one of the bottles 

 registers about 160. They may now be 

 taken out and corked or sealed. A fresh 



supply of filled bottles of honey should next 

 be put back to replace the first lot, and the 

 operation of heating and sealing can be 

 continued indefinitely. Two persons, by 

 following out this plan, can put up some- 

 thing like a thousand Muth jars in a day. 

 But why do we prefer this plan of heating 

 honey to that of heating in bulk ? For these 

 reasons : 



1. One can fill a small order at any time; 

 and it is not necessary to heat a great bulk 

 of honey in order to put up a dozen bottles 

 or so of honey. In heating a large quan- 

 tity of honey, one necessarily has to keep it 

 hot a great length of time. The longer the 

 honey is kept hot the greater the liability 

 to discolor and impair its flavor. 



2. Bottles that are submerged in hot water 

 can be easily wiped ofi^ with a cloth ; and as 

 soon as they are corked or sealed they are 

 ready for labeling. 



3. The honey that has been poured into 

 the vessels, either cold or hot, will have col- 

 lected a large number of air-bubbles ; and 

 it is these particles of air that have a ten- 

 dency to hasten granulation. When the 

 honey is heated gradually in the bottles 

 after filling, the process expels the air- 

 bubbles; and by the time the honey is clear 

 it is ready for sealing and labeling. 



4. If any honey should candy on your 

 hands, unseal, and set the bottles in the tray 

 of hot water, and reheat and seal without 

 emptying. When the honey has to be heat- 

 ed in bulk the bottles have to be emptied 

 and washed, which is not an easy job with 

 candied honey, and, after heating-, refilled. 



BOTTLING HONKY AS PRACTICED BY THE AUTHORS. 



The method already described is shown in the illustration above. Boy A draws the honey cold from a 

 large honey-tank into the bottles, which are then put into the tray on the gasoline-stove uncorked, and allowed 

 to stand in the hot water until the honey in the jars has reached the right temperature. B then picks the bottles 

 out one by one, and hands them over to C, who !-iniplv picks up the corks and inserts them about an eighth of 

 an inch into the mouths of the bottles. They are next passed on to D. who forces the corks into the jars so that 

 the top of the cork is about an eighth of an inch below the top of the mouth of the bottle. A larger view of the 

 same thing is shown in the next illustration. The lever D has a cleat nailed across one end. On each side are 

 nailed corks of different sizes. By turning the lever one way or the other, and inserting in one of the notches, 

 different heights can be secured for different heights of battles. The pressure on lever K forces the cork into 

 the mouth of the bottle. D next pas.ses the bottles on to K, who pours paraffine over the tops filling up the 

 space so it will be flush. Remember the corks were inserted below the mouth of the bottle about an eighth of 

 an inch. The paraffine is kept hot on a little lamp stove. E then pa.sses the bottle on to the next one, who puts 

 on the labels. The large heating tray, as will be seen, is on a gasoline-stove. The tray is made of galvanized 

 iron, and each has T-tins running transversely across the coarse mesh wire cloth. On this are placed the 

 bottles while being heated. 



