52 



TMm mwmmmi&mm ®b® j©13'mi«mi^. 



The color can be improved by running it 

 through the sun wax-extractor a few times. 



— C. H. DiBBEKN. 



Put it in the sun in thin strips, when the 

 sun is not hot enough to melt it. Some 

 yellow was never bleaches. — Dadant & 

 Son. 



Why do you ask? The yellow is conceded 

 by all good judges to be the best. I leave 

 the answer to Messrs. Dadant & Son. — A. 

 J. Cook. 



Sheet it as thin as possible, and bleach it 

 in the sun. Bleaching hardens it, and 

 makes it unfit for use in the apiary.— J. M. 

 Shuck. 



Use very thin sheets, and expose them to 

 a strong light. You must use care, or the 

 ■wax will melt. — H. D. Cutting. 



A good plan is to sheet it, and then ex- 

 pose the sheets to a strong light. Melting 

 them, frequently hastens the process. — J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



Why bleach it* I prefer to have it yel- 

 low. You can bleach it by a strong light, 

 or in the sun, the wax being in thin sheets. 



— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Make it into thin sheets, and bleach it 

 with sun and dew, just as muslin is bleach- 

 ed. A lady at Rahway, N. J., accumulated 

 quite a little fortune at bleaching wax, a 

 few years since. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I believe that there is some chemical pro- 

 cess for bleaching, but I do not know what 

 it is. If made into very thin sheets, and 

 kept moist and in the hot sun for a few 

 weeks, it will become quite white. — A. B. 

 Mason. 



To place it in the sunlight, I suppose. I 

 know that you do not want bleached 

 wax in connection with bee-keeping. Per- 

 haps you want it for some outside purpose. 

 — James Heddon. 



I have given very little attention to the 

 art of bleaching beeswax. My mother, 

 many years ago, bleached beeswax by 

 making it in thin cakes, and exposing them 

 to the sun and dews. That was so long ago 

 that it makes my head swim to '' ketch on." 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



The method of bleaching wax is thus de- 

 scribed by Pereiza: "This is effected by 

 melting yellow wax (either in a copper 

 vessel, or in a large vat or tub, by means of 

 steam), running it off, while in a melted 

 state, into a trough, called a cradle, per- 

 forated at the bottom with holes, and 

 placed over a large water-tank, and one 

 end of which is a revolving cylinder, al- 

 most wholly immersed in water. By this 

 means, the wax is solidified, converted into 

 a kind of ribbon, and conveyed on the sur- 

 face of the water to the other end of the 

 tank. These ribbons of wax are here lifted 

 out, and conveyed in baskets to bleaching- 

 grounds, where they are exposed to the 

 air, sunshine and moisture, for one or two 

 weeks (according to the state of the 

 weather) ; being turned every day, and 

 watered from time to time. The wax is 

 thenre-melted, re-ribboned, and re-bleached ; 

 it is subsequently refined by melting in 

 water acidulated with sulphur acid. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



Onr Preininni-I>i»>t Supplement 



describes many articles of great merit, and 

 that are useful in every family. We have 

 oarefully selected them to offer as premiums 

 for getting up clubs for our Journals. We 

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 few hours of labor for us. Our Journals 

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 to be for our mutual advantage. 



SECOND PRIZE. 



Extracted Honey — Production, 

 Crystallization and U§e. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY G. P. HACHENBERG, M. D. 



Honey properly extracted, is honey 

 iu its pure and perfect condition. 

 When we speak of " extracted honey," 

 we do not mean the article, simply as 

 it comes out of the extractor, with its 

 natural impurities of particles of wax, 

 bee-bread, etc., but after it has passed 

 througli the necessary manipulations 

 to make it an inviting article for the 

 market. 



The processs of extracting is simple, 

 and generally well understood. The 

 solid comb, before it is placed in the 

 extractor, is uncapped with a suitable 

 knife ; but comb with a feeble support, 

 or in a broken condition, is uncapped 

 and extracted in lids of wire net-work. 

 (See Amekican Bee Journal for Dec. 

 5, 1888.) 



The method of straining the honey 

 after it is extracted, should be adapted 

 to the condition of the honey, and 

 other circumstances. A general error 

 is to force it through a cheese-cloth, 

 with meshes so coarse that the honey 

 carries with it foreign particles, being 

 left more or less in a cloudy condition, 

 and is neither attractive to the eye, 

 nor delicate to the taste. The desid- 

 eratum to be obtained, is pure honey, 

 and nothing else. This can only be 

 effected by straining it through close, 

 firm muslin, not by pressure, but by a 

 slow process of percolation, the honey 

 passing through the cloth in transpar- 

 ent cr.ystal globules. (See American 

 Bee Journal for Aug. 8, 1888.) For 

 this condition of honey, I have not 

 found to fail a good local demand and 

 uniform price. 



WHEN TO EXTRACT HONEY. 



It is generally conceded to be indi- 

 cated to extract when a comb of honey 

 is capped. Then it is supposed that it 

 is " cured," and fit for extracting. But 

 as capping is not uniform, and extract- 

 ing has to be done with many combs 

 only partially capped, what have we 

 to do with this mixture of honey that 

 in the aggregate is only partially 

 cured ? This is an important ques- 

 tion. But in the first place, what is 

 "cured" honey ? It is honey inspis- 

 sated. Imperfectly cured honey, after 

 straining, needs special attention ; 

 otherwise it may pass into acetic fer- 

 mentation. 



CURING THE HONEY. 



There are three vvays by which 

 honey is cured, viz : 1. In the comb. 

 2. Soon after extracting. 3. In storage. 



First, as regards the curing of honey 

 in the comb, we might ask this ques- 

 tion, " Will a long storage of honey in 

 the comb improve it ? " Certainly not, 

 as, by age, the capping becomes im- 

 pure and dirty, which in time will, to 

 a more or less extent, penetrate the 

 honey and give it a dark tint. 



Second, the curing after extracting 

 is to leave the honey in open vessels, 

 not entirely excluding the air, but es- 

 pecially protecting it from the dust and 

 light. 



Third, the process of curing in stor- 

 age takes place in barrels, after pre- 

 vious ripening ; and is something like 

 a limited vinous fermentation, or 

 rather the development of a melic 

 ether — a process of purification ; for 

 after such a storage for a month or 

 two, the honey will wonderfully im- 

 prove in its crystal appearance. By 

 this method, the honey must be kept 

 perfectly excluded from atmospheric 

 air. 



CRYSTALLIZATION OP HONEY. 



Honey in barrels will tax our utmost 

 ingenuity to keep it in a state of 

 fluidity, and not allow it to turn into 

 crystallization. Candied honey in the 

 market is an abomination. Although 

 to the eye of the bee-man it is indica- 

 tive of its purity, the customer asso- 

 ciates it with the dregs of a molasses 

 barrel, and is consequently little dis- 

 posed to buy it. 



Crystallization of honey can be recti- 

 fied, as well as prevented, by the ap- 

 plication of heat. This will cause such 

 a molecular change in the honey as to 

 bring about the desired effect. But if 

 the action of heat is too great, it will 

 give the honey a dark tint, and tends, 

 in a measure, to impair the delicious- 

 ness of its taste. 



1 have tried two ways to treat crys- 

 tallization — first, of the honey in glass 

 jars, and, second, as a prophylactic, ia 

 putting it up in barrels. 



When the crystallization first forms 

 in the bottom of the jars, I place about 

 a hundred of them at a time in a me- 

 tallic trough, in enough cold water to 

 reach to two-thirds the height of the 

 jars, and then apply the heat gradually 

 until the crystallization is perfectly 

 dissolved. This heat is not to go be- 

 yond 160°, Fahr., but may be held at 

 "that point until perfect dissolution has 

 taken place. 



To prevent the crystallization in 

 barrels, the honey at the time of strain- 

 ing, is to be warm in temperature, but 

 not hot. Even to strain the last half 

 of the barrel warm, may suflice to se- 

 cure a lasting fluidity of the whole. 



