NOVEMBER 15, 1912 



is of only 11 or 11^2 lbs., is liable to sour. 

 In some cases the heavier portions settle 

 To the bottom of the can while the lighter 

 rises to the toi:>. Many a beginner has found 

 to his sorrow that his honey stored in cans 

 was tiiin, watery on top, and of poor flavor, 

 \\ljile that drawn. off from the bottom was 

 of fair quality. But the worst of it is, the 

 honey on top begins to sour, and very 

 shortly the process of fermentation affects 

 the whole can of honey. This fermentation 

 may be arrested by taking it in time by 

 heating; but the more the honey is heated, 

 the more it affects the flavor it had. 



We do not know what the moisture con- 

 tent of a 12-lb. honey would be; but as a 

 12 lb. is a normal honey, and as the Bu- 

 reau of Chemistry finds 17.70 per cent 

 is the amount of moisture in an average 

 hcney, the presumption is that 17.70 is the 

 moisture content of a 12-lb. honev. 



THE DIFFERENCE IN FLAVOR BETWEEN COMB 

 AND EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Perhaps the average person would say 

 tliat honey is honey, whether in the comb 

 or out of it. We presume most extracted- 

 honey producers would assert that their ex- 

 tracted, in point of flavor, is the equal of 

 the same article before it was taken from 

 the comb. We shall have to admit that a 

 honey that has been thoroughly ripened 

 has the same delicate flavor whether it is 

 in the comb or out of it. If we could de- 

 liver the liquid product direct to the mo.uth 

 of the consumer, before it granulates and 

 is reliquefied, there never would be any 

 question as to the difference between the 

 comb and extracted honey from the same 

 source and from the same colony, provided 

 both had been capped over before their re- 

 moval from the original container. But 

 nearly all honeys granulate, and granu- 

 lated honey has a slightly different flavor 

 from the same honey before it goes into the 

 solid state. We believe that most connois- 

 seurs will agree to this. But when the gran- 

 ulated honey is liquefied it may or may not 

 suffer loss of flavor, as a gi'eat deal de]3ends 

 on Jww it is done. In the great majority 

 of cases, honey that has been heated will 

 be found to have lost some of its original 

 aroma. This difference, though not percep- 

 tible to the averge consum.er, can be detect- 

 ed by the connoisseur. We are- informed 

 that the flavors in honey depend on certain 

 alcohols that reside in very minute quanti- 

 ties in the honey. If tliis is the case, these 

 flavors would be very easily driven off by 

 too high a temperature or by long-contin- 

 ued heat. Quick heating and cooling, if 



717 



the temperature does not go above 150 or 

 160, as a rule will not affect the flavor. 

 But a temperature of 140 or more, espe- 

 cially if continued for 24 hours, will rob 

 the honey of some of its delicate aroma, 

 and a connoisseur will notice a slight cara- 

 mel or burnt taste — something that the or- 

 dinary consumer perhaps would not detect. 

 Then why should we speak of it? For the 

 simple reason that beekeepers should be 

 warned that, in heating their honey, they 

 should be careful not to overdo .the job. 

 We are convinced that there is a science in 

 liquefying honey; and while we think we 

 know a great deal about it we have yet 

 something to learn. One of the things we 

 think we know is that honey should not be 

 kept hot very long. It should be lieated 

 quickly, and cooled as soon as possible. 

 Ordinary air cooling we find is the equal of 

 cold-water cooling, although we believe 

 there are some who will dispute this. Well, 

 it comes to pass that a great deal of the 

 liquid honey on the market has been im- 

 properly liquefied; and therefore will have 

 lost some of its flavor. It follows then that 

 ■ the average comb honey will hav-3 more and 

 better flavor than the average liquid honey. 



There are thousands and thousands of 

 consumers who prefer comb honey, and are 

 willing to pay a double j^rice for it. While 

 a part of this preference may be due to ed- 

 ucation in early childhood, or to education 

 on the farm, where no liquid honey was 

 produced, there is no doubt that there is a 

 real basis for this preference — in some cases 

 at least. 



Again, there are some honeys that suffer 

 more from heating than others; there are 

 some honeys that will remain liquid for a 

 considerable length of time without heating. 

 Mountain sage and tupelo are examples. 

 There are other honeys that granulate very 

 quickly, of which alfalfa, basswood, and 

 buckwheat are marked examples. As a rule 

 (he consumer can not obtain extracted al- 

 falfa unless it has gone through the process 

 of granulation and heating to bring it back 

 to its original state. The jDrocess in the 

 hands of some will deprive it of some of 

 its original flavor. In the hands of others 

 there will be no appreciable loss, mainly 

 because they know how, and that "know 

 how," we believe, consists in quick heating, 

 and cooling as soon as possible thereafter. 



Aside from tlie inherent flavor already 

 residing in the honey, it is proper to ob- 

 serve that beeswax itself has a flavor all 

 its own. This flavor, added to the natural 

 aroma of honey itself, makes a combination 

 that is prized by some of our best con- 

 noisseurs. 



