862 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



or convenience of the apiarist. I do not 

 advise a greater depth than 24 inches in- 

 side. Mr. Alexander found by experience 

 that his tanks of a depth of 36 inches were 

 too deep, and advised 32 in.; but I prefer 

 the shallower tanks I use as time-savers in 

 the maturing of honey. 



When ready for extracting, the full 

 combs are taken from the hives, whether 

 partially capped or uncapped, though I 

 like to see the capping just started on the 

 upper parts; but I am not particular in 

 this respect. The honey runs through three 

 strainers from the extractor by gravitation, 

 each one smaller in the mesh than the one 

 above it. When the extracting is finished a 

 speeific-gxavity and thermometer test is tak- 

 en and noted. The extracting-room is well 

 ventilated with sliding ventilators overhead, 

 which can be closed if necessary, and the 

 whole outside house is well sheltered, and 

 gets the sun all day. We have an American 

 stove in the house to heat it if necessary. In 

 a couple of days or so all the fine particles 

 of pollen and wax that went through the 

 strainers have risen to the top and formed 

 a thick scum, which, when skimmed off, 

 leaves the honey clear. It is to facilitate 

 this clearing of the honey, and to hasten 

 the ripening, that I advocate shallow tanks. 



A further test is now taken for specific 

 gravity, both on the surface of the honey 

 in the tank and of some drawn off from the 

 lower part. We rarely find any appreciable 

 difference. When we find the specific grav- 

 ity 1.420 or above, we are satisfied. The 

 honey is fit to put up for market. I am 

 speaking of clover honey, which we raise. 

 It may run up to 1.435 or over — the higher 

 the better. As a rule, in bright warm 

 weather the honey begins to get cloudy in 

 about four days or less, showing signs of 

 granulation. Before running it off for 

 market we mix it thoroughly in the tank 

 with a wooden hoe, and take samples in 

 glass jars to test by times, labeling each 

 sample with date of extracting, and specific 

 gravity. We have some samples from the 

 first extracting, nearly seven years ago; 

 and I have before me now two samples 

 nearly six years old, as good as ever. The 

 specific gravity is registered on the labels 

 1.420, at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahr. 



In warm dry weather the honey ripens 

 very quickly, and takes a little longer in 

 damp weather; but having been successful 

 in all seasons I believe there is practically 

 no risk, providing ordinary care is exer- 

 cised. 



LOCALITY. 



" Locality," I often think, is a very con- 

 venient word for beekeepers. When one of 



them makes an extraordinary success where 

 others have failed, or failed where others 

 have succeeded, they fly to that blessed word 

 " locality," as sufficient to account for all 

 the difference, though in all probability it 

 lies mostly in the difference of manage- 

 ment. Though I believe that extreme dif- 

 ference of temperature and rainfall may 

 make some difference in the time that it 

 takes to ripen honey, both within and with- 

 out the hive, I do not believe, as some as- 

 sert, that it can be done in the one case and 

 not the other. In this connection I thought 

 it worth while to collect for this article the 

 mean summer temperature and mean rain- 

 fall for the different parts of New Zealand, 

 where I have successfully ripened honey 

 outside the hive. 



MEAN SUMMEE TEMPEEATURE, FAHR., IN SHADE. 



Auckland 65.7 



Wellington 62.1 



Canterbury 60.8 



MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL IN INCHES. 



Auckland, for 58 years 43.28 



Wellington, for 53 years 49.91 



Canterbury, for 34 years 25.34 



I think, Mr. Editor, I have now covered 

 all this ground necessary to support my 

 side of the c[uestion, but I shall be only too 

 pleased to hear arguments on the other 

 side, provided it is based on experience and 

 their process fully explained. 



Before closing I may mention that my 

 reason for bringing the hydrometer into 

 nse in testing the specific gravity of honey 

 was to work out some simple scheme by 

 which the average beekeeper might ascer- 

 tain when his honey was fit to put on the 

 market without risk. I carried out about 

 150 tests, all of which were with what we 

 could call clover honey, and I concluded 

 with the result given above. 



With regard to the advantages of the 

 system I advocate, they are very many ; but 

 I must refer my readers to Alexander's 

 writings and L. C. Root's paper for details 

 as this article is already too long. It has 

 been said that I stand alone in this matter 

 in New Zealand ; but this is contrary to fact, 

 though that would make no difference to 

 its advantages nor to me. 



Auckland, N. Z., Nov. 6. 



[We solicited the above article, and are 

 glad to ijlace it before our readers; bat at 

 the same time we wish to add a word of 

 caution. As we have mentioned before, 

 there has been a large amount of thin un- 

 ripe honey thrown on the market — in this 

 country at least. This fact does not prove 

 that honey may not be ripened artificially, 

 but it does show conclusively that the plan 

 of extracting honey from combs not at least 

 two-thirds capped over, and taking no par- 



