1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



707 



MARKETING CANDIED HONEY. 



Temporary Storage -box for Candied 

 Honey, which May be Taken Apart 

 when the Honey is Candied. 



HY JAMES ALLAN, 

 Pres. Soutliland Bce-keepcrs ' Association. 



It is disappointing to me that the plan of 

 cutting candied honey and wrapping it in 

 parchment has made so little progress among 

 the progressive bee-keepers of the States. 

 Here in New Zealand I am looking forward 

 to a time when the bulk of our honey will go 

 on to the market in '2 -lb. pats, double wrap- 

 ped in parchment. For the past two seasons 

 this is the way I have placed my own crop on 

 the market, with results ex- 

 tremely satisfactory. 



With your permission I will 

 describe to your readers my 

 system of handling it. My 

 honey is run from a four-frame 

 automatic reversible extractor 

 through a strainer into a small 

 honey-tank capable of holding 

 850 lbs. From this tank, as the 

 room is required, it is run into 

 Allan honey-boxes, and imme- 

 diately stored to granulate. 

 These boxes are made from 

 our New Zealand white pine, a 

 soft wood (commonly used here 

 for sending our butter to the 

 London market). They are 

 made from inch boards, the fol- 

 lowing being the inside measure- 

 ments of the boxes: Length, 25 

 in.; depth, 9>2; width, 9. The 

 ends are let into the sides '4^ 

 in.; and both ends and sides 

 are let into the bottom 'X inch. 

 The sides are bored by the mak- 

 er, and come to me in the flat 

 ready to put together with 

 screws. In the sides of the box 

 at every 3>^ inches a saw-cut is 

 put ,V inch deep; and when the 

 box is put together and filled 

 with honey, tin slides are in- 

 serted at these saw-cuts, thus 

 dividing the honey into 8 divi- 

 sions, each 9x9'4X3's inches. 

 When the honey has granulated 

 firm enough the box is un- 

 screwed on a table, and the oblong of honey 

 is turned out on the table, 25X9>^X9. With 

 a strong knife inserted beside each slide, it 

 is divided into slices of the size given above, 

 viz., 3>^X9'^X9. The next thing is to deal 

 with these slices so as to cut ea^ii one into 

 25 pats, each 3 ' s X 1 J X 1 \ . For this purpose 

 I use the Allan honey-cutter. 



The sketch will give some idea of it. The 

 sole-plate is 18 in. oy 3/^x2. The sides are 

 9x9, and have 4 saw-cuts to allow the cut- 

 ting wire to pass through. It is made fast to 

 a table by two screws through the sole-plate. 

 Into this cutter aslice of honey is placed, and 

 cut first one way and then reversed and cut 

 across, when, if the cutter is accurately made. 



each piece or pat should measure exactly 

 3'/i^xl:fXl)',, and weigh exactly >^ lb. These 

 pats are then wrapped in water-white parch- 

 ment, the first one being plain, the second 

 having the brand and description printed on 

 it. 



Usually about June 1 (December 1 with 

 you) we begin to cut our season's crop. I 

 find it economizes time to have four workers 

 at the job — one unscrewing boxes and pack- 

 ing away the wrapped honey; one cutting 

 and two wrapping, working so we can easi- 

 ly dispose of a 100-lb. box every yi hour, mak- 

 ing it into 200 K-lbs. of honey neatly wrap- 

 ped and repacked for sale; or in a day of 8 

 hours 1600 lbs. can be cut, wrapped, and re- 

 packed, making 3200 >^-lb. pats. Of course, 



i A NEW ZEALAND WAY OF CUTTING UP CANDIED HONEY. 



The honey is run directly into the divided storage-boxes from the 

 extractor; and after it is candied the box is taken apart and the slabs 

 separated by a knife pushed down close to each tin division. Each 

 slab is then cut up into small " pats," with wire in the manner shown. 



quicker work could be done, but that is our 

 regular working pace. 



The cost of this operation — if we divide the 

 cost of the boxes over, say, five years (and 

 if taken care of they will last much longer) , 

 will be, for box and paper, about '^ of a pen- 

 ny i'/z cent) per lb. The wages, each one 

 can reckon for himself. The only further 

 cost is the box into which they are packed 

 for the market. I use one holding 24 lbs., 

 costing 12 cents. 



Now I have only to give you the result. 

 On the open market, honey with us varies 

 from 3K to 4 pence in bulk (in 60-lb. tins). 

 The very finest clover can rarely make 4J4 

 pence, except in small quantities. Season 



