328 THE beb-keeper's guide; 



constantly above 80 degrees F. If canned honey is set on 

 top of a furnace in which a fire is kept burning, it will remain 

 liquid indefinitely. If honey is heated to 180 degrees F. and 

 sealed, it will be uninjured, and generally remains ever after 

 liquid. It may be cheaply canned in the usual fruit cans, or 

 in bottles, if we dip the tops in melted wax after corking, to 

 insure making all air-tight. Granulated honey, if reduced, 

 will often remain permanently liquid. It is a curious fact that 

 unripe honey is quicker to granulate than is honey that is 

 thoroughly evaporated. If we drain the liquid from hopey 

 that is partially granulated, and melt the hard crystals, we 

 secure a very superior product. If candied honey is but par- 

 tially crystallized, the liquid part may color all as we melt the 

 crystals, even though we do not burn it. 



The fact that honey granulates is the best test of its 

 purity. To be sure, some honey does not crystallize, but if 

 honey does we may pretty safely decide that it is unadulterated. 



To render the honey free from small pieces of comb or 

 other impurities, it should either be passed through a cloth or 

 wire sieve — I purposely refrain from the use of the word 

 strainer, as we should neither use the word strained, nor allow 

 it to be used, in connection with extracted honey — or else draw 

 it off into a barrel, with a faucet or molasses-gate near the 

 lower end, and after all particles of solid matter have risen to 

 the top, draw off the clear honey from the bottom. In case of 

 very thick honey, this method is not so satisfactory as the 

 first. I hardly need say that honey, when heated, is thinner, 

 and will of course pass more readily through common towel- 

 ing or fine wire-cloth. If a sheet of queen-excluding zinc is 

 used between the brood-chamber and upper story we shall 

 have no brood above. This saves great loss in honey, for 

 rearing drones is very expensive, and also saves a deal of 

 vexation. The apiarist enjoys full frames of honey, and is 

 annoyed at great patches of drone-brood in the extracting 

 supers ; neither does he enjoy cutting off the heads of drone- 

 brood to rid the hives of these expensive hangers on. 



Never allow the queen to be forced to idleness for want 

 of empty cells. Extract all uncapped honey in the fall, and 

 the honey from all the brood-combs not needed for winter, 



