470 HONEY PRODUCTION. 



sieve should be large enough to take a pailful of honey, so 

 as to cause no delay. 



A mark is made on the barrel, with a crayon, or chalk, as 

 each pailful is i^oui-ed in. In this way we know when the 

 barrel is full, without having to gauge it, and we avoid having 

 the honey run over and waste. 



The latest method is to have a large tank instead of a 

 barrel to receive the honey. The tank is intended to ripen 

 the hon(!y and is usually made of galvanized iron. The writer 

 has seen tanks of this kind out in the open air, in California, 

 where it never rains during the summer season. Honey that 

 is allowed to remain in an open tank with only a light cloth 

 over it, in a hot room, will often ripen considerably by 

 evaporation. It is a good method. But as we have a number 

 of out-apiaries, we find it more convenient to barrel our honey, 

 especially as we always wait till the bees have ripened the 

 honey before extracting it. Not only have we barreled our 

 honey for years, but very extensive apiarists around us have 

 done tlie samoj among whom we will cite E. J. Baxter of 

 Nauvoo, Illinois, who produces a number of tons of extracted 

 honey every season. The honey must be veiy ripe when har- 

 vested and the barrels, if used in preference to tanks, must 

 be of the proper kind and quality. (S29.) 



779. We would advise beginners, who extract for the first 

 time, to go slowly and carefully. A little care, besides saving 

 time, will save the waste of several pounds of honey, and make 

 things more comfortable; for a jDound of honey wasted goes a 

 great way towards making everything slicky and dirty. If a 

 splendid crop and neat work are pleasurable, a daubed 

 honey-room and cross bees in the apiary irritate both the 

 Apiarist and his assistants, who soon become sick of the work. 

 When things are rightly managed, the work is so delightful 

 that more help cmi be found than is needed. 



780. Of all manipulations, extracting is that which re- 

 quires the greatest precautions against robbing (664). Care- 

 fully avoid all unnecessary exposure of comb or honey. Rob- 



