THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



215 



that honey was evaporated to a certain 

 degree it should then be tilled into 

 cans and jars for market at retail — in 

 other words it is " ripe." 



Turner Buswell. 



What do you consider to be a fair 

 standard weight for both producer and 

 consumer, to which their honey should 

 be brought by cruing? 



Can you not give, in some article, 

 the best method of curing unripe ex- 

 tracted honey on large and small scales 

 so as to suit the wants of all classes. 



Cincinnati, 0. 



All the qualities of our northern 

 honey that have come under my obser- 

 vation range from Uh.-'^2i to the gallon. 

 Clover and poplar are, perhaps, heavi- 

 est on the scales and when weighed 

 with the saccharometer, next come 

 perhaps catnip and our fall honeys. 

 Linden seems to be lightest. I had 

 southern honey weighing only ll^lbs., 

 but good qualities in the south come 

 up to 12 lbs., like ours. You should 

 not take in consideration thin, unrip- 

 ened honey when making up the aver- 

 age weight, as the diflerence depends 

 on the amount of water it contains, an 

 addition we don't want. I consider 12 

 lb. to the gallon a fair average weight 

 of honey. 



Allow me here to state that I con- 

 sider honey ripened when it keeps ; i. e. , 

 when it retains its flavor and does not 

 expand when it granulates. 



The fact of honey being capped is no 

 proof of its being ripened as we often 

 extract very thin honey from capped 

 cells. It is also a mistaken idea that 

 the flavor is improved by allowing the 

 cells to be capped. Honey gets its fla- 

 vor from the source from which it is 

 derived. From nothing else. It 

 ripens in an open vessel better than in 

 a bee-hive providing the vessel stands 

 in a warm, dry place and enough sur- 

 face is exposed to the air. A barrel with 

 the bung out would allow of no evapor- 

 ation, while a barrel with a ^ead out 

 and standing on end would answer the 

 purpose. The length of time for a 

 thorough ripening depends on the con- 

 sistency of the honey but the longer 

 time is given it the better the qualtty. 



Chas. F. Muth. 



Doxoagiac, Mich. 

 A very good marketable article of 

 extracted honey, that is, very well ri- 

 pened, will weigh twelve pounds to 

 the gallon. Honey of any consistency 



rarely keeps its flavor as nicely in any 

 other place as in the comb. 



Even at 12 pounds per gallon, honey 

 will usually go far enough toward fer- 

 mentation to take on a twang not often 

 found with comb honey. If you wish 

 your honey to remain of the smooth, 

 oily flavor it contained when extracted 

 from sealed combs, it should not fall 

 short of 12 pounds per gallon, and 12^ 

 is preferable. Regarding ripening 

 honey ; I consider leaving the honey 

 in the combs until it is ripened, as the 

 best way to get it in that condition. 

 For those who produce it on a large 

 scale, I think the laws of nature aflbrd 

 a cheaper method; but, as yet, I know 

 of none suflicieutly formulated than is 

 in use by beekeepers in general. 



James Heddon. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Clover honey even if ripe has more 

 bulk than fall honey, but the diflerence 

 don't amount to h- Thus it is very 

 difficult, if not impossible, to give a 

 rule for the evaporating of honey, in 

 regard to its measurement. Any ex- 

 perienced hand can tell at a glance 

 whether honey is ripe enough. As a 

 rule, honey that will not granulate 

 thoroughly when it granulates at all, 

 is not ripe enough. 



Basswood honey is the hardest 

 honey to ripen that we know of. 



Dadant & Son. 

 New York City. 



Weight of extracted honey ranges 

 from 11 to 12.i to pounds the gallon, 

 standard weight for producers and 

 consumers. 



TlIURBER, WllYLAND & Co. 



New York City. 

 White clover, basswood or buck- 

 wheat honey generally weighs from 

 105 to 11^ pounds to the gallon. Cuban 

 honey weighs about 10 and lOi ; if fine 

 quality 11 lbs. Florida orange blos- 

 soms and California white sage weigh 

 about 11 to 12 lbs. Have never handled 

 any honey that weighed less than 10, 

 or more than 12 lbs. per gallon. 



McCaUI. & HlLDlJETU. 



San Francisco, Cal. 

 Honey varies a great deal in weight 

 per gallon in this section, some being a 

 good deal heavier and thicker than 

 other lots. We think that about 12 

 lbs. per gallon is a good, fair average, 

 for pure honey, either candied or clear. 

 Geo. W. Mead & Co. 



