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CORRESfOMDEECE. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 



Extracted Honey — Its Prodtic- 

 lioii, Care and Sale. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY DR. H. BESSE. 



One of the important things to Icnow 

 is where to locate the hives. Begin- 

 ners who are just starting in apicul- 

 ture, are apt to conclude that because 

 bees can sting, they should be put iu 

 some secluded and out-of-the-waj' 

 place. This, in my opinion, is a verj' 

 wrong practice. 



Bees that rarely see the beo-keeper 

 or his familj-, or any other human 

 beings, become vindictive, savage and 

 troublesome, when, on the contrary, 

 if thej- see people passing and re-pass- 

 ing frequentl}' every day, and thus 

 have the advantage of human society, 

 they become amiable and docile. This 

 is the condition of things that should 

 exist in all apiaries, and especially 

 those run for extracted honey. 



For convenience, the hives should be 

 located near the extracting room ; 

 also, if possible, near the walk to the 

 barn, garden or spring-house, where 

 women and children are almost always 

 in sight. The entrances of the hives 

 should face toward the places most 

 frequented by human beings. 



Extracted honej' is, as j-et, with 

 many persons, a new article, with 

 which they have not become familiar. 

 The}' have never tasted its delicious 

 flavor, or seen its beautiful amber 

 color. Extracted honey is hone}' in 

 its perfectly pure state, as found iu the 

 multiplied millions of flowers, and 

 gathered and ripened by the millions 

 of industrious and happy little honey- 

 bees. 



GETTING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



To secure this God-given, healthful 

 and luscious food, after the hives and 

 supers have become heavy with stores, 

 we proceed as follows : Direct a puft" 

 or two of smoke from the smoker into 

 the entrance of the hive, then remove 

 the cover from the super, also remove 

 the cloth that covers the frames of 

 comb ; then direct a stream of smoke 

 down among the bees and between the 

 combs. Under this treatment, the 

 bees become alarmed, and (piickly re- 

 treat belovv where a portion of them 

 may remain on the bottom of the 

 frames. These frames are to be lifted 

 out, one by one, and the bees that I'c- 

 main on them are to be removed by 

 giving each frame a quick jerk down- 

 ward, and thus dislodge the most of 



the bees ; then, if a few still remain, 

 take a yucca bee-brush or a turkey's 

 wing-feather, and with a quick and 

 light motion, brush the remaining bees 

 oft' into the hive, where you have 

 driven the tirst and shaken the others. 

 As you remove the bees from the 

 combs, place the combs into the carrier, 

 and, when tilled, it should be carried 

 or wheeled into the extracting room. 

 Such combs should be about filled with 

 honey, and at least two-thirds capped. 



I now proceed to extract as follows : 

 Lift out a frame of comb, and stand it 

 upon the frame over the extracting 

 tub or can, by taking hold of one 

 lower corner with the left hand, and 

 place the upper corner of the opposite 

 end of the frame downward, resting 

 upon, or in, a cavity on the center of 

 the frame over the extracting can. 

 This throws the upper edge of the 

 frame or comb downwai'd, and lean- 

 ing toward the left shoulder of the 

 opei'ator at an angle of about 45-- 



If the operator be left-handed, he 

 will hold the frame with his right 

 hand, and use the uncapping-knife 

 with the left. I have used several un- 

 capping-knives. but I prefer the Bing- 

 ham & Hetherington for uncapping 

 only. When I am at work at uncap- 

 ping, I have a one-gallon tin-bucket, 

 lined with a wooden basket, that will 

 lit snugly into it, and kept full of hot 

 water standing over a lamp ; iu this 

 I keep one knife all of the time, using 

 two, and changing frequently. The 

 basket keeps the knives from getting 

 dull. 



THE E.KTRACTOK AND 1ST USE. 



The honey extractor is now made by 

 many diftei'ent men, and likewise in as 

 many dift'erent styles, yet the principle 

 is the same iu all, namely, centrifugal 

 force. The extractor most common in 

 use is a tin can made fast to a table or 

 bench, provided with a revolving 

 frame-work inside, with wire-cloth 

 supports for the uncapped combs to 

 rest against, and into which the combs 

 are placed. These combs should stand 

 on end, leaning slightly further apart 

 at the upper than at the lower ends. 

 This prevents the honey from flying 

 over the top of the can. 



Combs should also be so placed in 

 the extractors, or the extractor so oper- 

 ated, that the bottom edge of the comb, 

 as it stood in the hive, whirls in ad- 

 vance, as the honey clears the cells 

 more directly and readily in an out- 

 ward, backward and downward direc- 

 tion. Now if the cells were built 

 horizontally in the combs, it would 

 make no difierence which edge of the 

 comb was in front. 



Wlien the outside of the combs are 

 extracted, reverse or turn them 

 around, and then turn the extractor in 



an opposite direction. The centrifugal 

 force that throws the honey from the 

 cells, and through the wire-cloth sup- 

 ports, and which runs down the inside 

 of the extractor to the bottom of the 

 can, and is drawn oft" through a gate 

 or faucet, is now ready for straining 

 and canning. 



The operation of extracting does not 

 injure the combs, therefore they can 

 be replaced on the hive, and re-fllled 

 several times during the season. I 

 have combs that I have extracted 

 from ever since extractors first came 

 in" use, and they are as good now as at 

 first, if not better. 



Honey should be perfectly ripe be- 

 fore canning, and, in fact, I prefer to 

 have it ripe before extracting, but if it 

 should not be entirely ripe, it can be 

 matured by evaporation, by exposing it 

 in an open vessel (covered with thin 

 cloth) to a warm and dry atmosphere. 



I always aim to keep the different 

 kinds of extracted honey separate, es- 

 pecially that extracted in summer and 

 fall, as it needs grading as much as 

 does comb honey. 



HONEY FROM CAPPINGS. 



To get the honey from the eappings, 

 I leave them in the uncapping-can 

 over night. This can is provided with 

 a fine wire-cloth strainer near the bot- 

 tom, through which the most of the 

 honey passes by morning, and from 

 whence it can be drawn through a 

 gate, and put with the extracted 

 honey. The eappings are lifted out 

 with the strainer, and turned into the 

 solar wax-extractor, where it will melt 

 through the day, if pleasant, and the 

 next morning I find a beautiful cake 

 of beeswax, and beneath it, in the 

 same place, all of the honey that had 

 been left in the eappings the day be- 

 fore. This I find nice, thick, of extra 

 quality, and this is the wax and honey 

 to save and show at the fairs — if you 

 do not want some other fellow to get 

 ahead of you. 



KEEPING HONEY SEPARATE. 



If in the spring, during fruit-bloom, 

 I find it necessary to extract honey, 

 and I find it an inferior article, on ac- 

 count of unpleasant taste, color, etc., I 

 aim to have all such extracted before 

 the commencement of the clover sea- 

 son, and kept for feeding in time of 

 scarcity ; the same rule will apply to 

 late fall honey that is Inferior in taste 

 and appearance. Such honey, if ripe, 

 is just as good for winter stores for the 

 bees, as any, and should be kept for 

 that purpose. If not perfectly ripe at 

 the end of the season, it should be ex- 

 tracted and evaporated until it is of 

 the consistency of good, ripe honey ; 

 or it can be brought to the boiling 

 point, skimmed, and sugar added while 



