DECEMBER 15, 1912 



801 



moist coffee A sugar, such as Mr. A. C. 

 Miller recommends on page 770, Dee. 1. — 

 Ed.] 



«--•-» 



RIPENING HONEY OUTSIDE THE HIVE 



BY I. HOPKINS 



We all know how strongly the ripening 

 of honey anywhere but within the hive has 

 been oi3posed at different times; but to any 

 one who has seriously considered the argu- 

 ments of its opponents they would have but 

 little value, inasmuch as they have not been 

 based on actual personal experience. I 

 have known of only one beekeeper, and he 

 a New Zealander (Mr. Hobbs), who bad 

 tried the system and failed. I do not know 

 any of the particulars of his trial. On the 

 other hand, we have direct evidence from 

 men of integi'ity who have had long experi- 

 ence in ripening honey outside the hive 

 who favor it in every way — men whose 

 truthfulness their strongest opponents will 

 not doubt ; to name only two or three, 

 Moses Quinby and his son-in-law, L. C. 

 Root; E. W. Alexander, and T. W. Cow- 

 an. Of the few who attended a meeting 

 of beekeepers at Wellington recently, three 

 had experiences, and advocated ripening 

 honey outside the hive, and a proposition 

 to the contrary by one individual was 

 thrown out. What better evidence could be 

 obtained? 



THE SYSTEM NOT NEV^. 



The ripening of honey outside the hive 

 is by no means new. Part of chapter XI. 

 of " Quinby's New Beekeeping," second edi- 

 tion, 1881, is devoted to it. I have also a 

 paper on the same subject by L. C. Root, 

 read before the New England Beekeepers' 

 Association in 1883, in which he speaks of 

 his 13 3'ears' experience, and states in de- 

 tail all the advantages to be gained by the 

 system. The following is worthy of note, 

 as it has a bearing on the stock arguments 

 of opponents. He says: "We shall claim, 

 first, as regards the quality of the honey, 

 there is no difference as to the time it is 

 extracted. It may be cured ( ripened ) 

 equally after as before. The only necessity 

 is that it be cured." 



My own commencement on a large scale 

 (ten tons of clover honey) dates back to 

 the season of 1883 and '4, and I have ad- 

 hered to the system ever since with com- 

 plete success. The late E. W. Alexander's 

 experience is also very convincing, and I 

 think the testimony of a man of his stand- 

 ing in the bee world may be taken in pref- 

 erence to all theories. 



RIPENING HONEY. 



Until chemical investigation proves to the 

 contrary, I can only believe that the ripen- 

 ing process, whether performed inside or 

 outside the hive, is the getting rid of the 

 surplus moisture usually found in nectar 

 when first gathered, and which, if retained, 

 would cause fermentation. I hold that the 

 bees have nothing to do with it when ripen- 

 ed within the hives, beyond driving off the 

 moisture as it evaporates from the honey- 

 cells, and capping the latter when the proc- 

 ess is complete. I think it quite likely that 

 there is a change going on in the sugars 

 during the course of ripening; and if so I 

 see no reason why the same should not go 

 on under any system. Much has been said 

 by opponents regarding the loss of flavor 

 when honey is ripened outside the hive; 

 but this, I feel certain, is all a myth. I 

 could never detect any difference, neither 

 have I known any one who could. I am 

 aware that Dr. E. F. Phillips, in his valua- 

 able paper entitled " The Care of Extracted 

 Honey," has stated that " unripe honeys 

 contain a large proportion of sucrose, or 

 cane sugar, and it is probable that, the 

 longer it remains in the hive, the less su- 

 crose will be found in the honey," and also 

 that " the official honey standard allows of 

 8 per cent of sucrose in honey." The test 

 of well-ripened honey, therefore, seems to 

 rest a great deal on a small percentage of 

 sucrose content. 



In this connection I may quote from the 

 report of Dr. H. W. Wiley (late Chief of 

 Chemical Bureau) on two samples of honey 

 sent by me for analysis to Dr. Phillips. 

 Both samples were portions of crops of 

 honey saved under the system I advocate, 

 in the separate seasons of 1909 and 1910. 

 Extract from Dr. Wiley's report : " Sucrose 

 0.29 per cent " in one sample, and " 0.00 

 per cent " in the other. Dr. Phillips' re- 

 marks on the two samples accompanying 

 the report were : " The water content is 

 very low in both, indicating a well-ripened 

 honey, and the sucrose is extremely low, in- 

 dicating complete inversion." 



THE PROCESS. 



The system as originally carried out by 

 me, and which I still follow, is very simple, 

 and similar to that of the late Mr. Alexan- 

 der and others. Shallow tanks are provid- 

 ed. The dimensions are — length, 6 ft.; 

 width, 4 ft. 6 in.; depth, 1 ft. 10 in. A 

 division runs down the center, and each 

 part holds about 1250 lbs.; or 2500 lbs. in 

 each tank. A honey-gate is fixed in each 

 apartment. With regard to the size of 

 tanks, I would limit only the depth. The 

 other dimensions can be left to the fancy 



