THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



195 



III iTKukeil coiiU-usL ure the 'Syri- 

 ans :iii(l CypiMMiis which Mr. Bt'ii- 

 toii loiiy, ;i.ij,'(» oi».sfr\cil rearcti low 

 (Iroiios. Aiiti all crosses madi; on 

 Ihe nuilernal side from llicse races 

 continne these inariicd eliaractcris- 

 tics thai are so vahiable in the pro- 

 duction of conil) lioney. 

 New Philadelphia, 0. 



For the American ApicuUurist. 



CARE OF COMB HONEY. 



R. L. Taylok. 



In a former article I have given 

 it as my opinion that it is better to 

 leave comb honey on the hive as 

 long as convenient, but intimated 

 that it should be taken ofl' at or 

 soon after the close of the clover 

 and bassvvood season. This hitter 

 point is important, for while the 

 bees will not discolor the honey to 

 any great extent while they aie 

 actively engaged in gathering nec- 

 tar, yet as soon as nectar is no 

 longer to be found they turn their 

 attention to the collecting of pro- 

 polis which they bestow freely, not 

 only upon every exposed part of 

 the sections but also upon the cai)- 

 pings of the honey. 



It is also to l)e observed that the 

 appearance of comb honey ist)ften 

 permanently injured in taking it 

 from cases or wide frames during 

 warm weather and before the pro- 

 cess of curing has hardl}' be- 

 gun. At this stage the comb is 

 soft and the honey comparatively 

 thin and it requires but very little 

 force to vvrench the section slight- 

 ly when of course the honeycomb 

 yields with it. The result of this 

 wrenching, though so apparently 

 trilling that there is no resulting 

 leaking and no cracking of the 

 cappings to be seen, is that the 



honey in its still uncuivd state 

 soon runs down against the cap- 

 pings in every disturbed cell, giv- 

 ing the honey an ;i[)pear;i,nce of 

 having '' sweat" which no sul)se- 

 (juent curing, however perfect, will 

 reined}'. So I (.lei)recate the re- 

 moval of honey from cases or wide 

 iVames except in case of necessity 

 until it is well cured. 



Again, if one does not succeed 

 in inducing the bees to leave the 

 cases of honey soon ai'Ler taking 

 them from the hive, a, Ihiid defect 

 in the ap[>earance of the honey 

 which cannot be subsequently rem- 

 edied is caused. It is the fouling 

 of the honey by the bees when 

 coo[)ed up in the cases for a day or 

 two. The way to prevent this is 

 of course to get the bees out of 

 the cases as expeditiously as pos- 

 sible. To do this the lirst process 

 is always to smoke out and brush 

 off as many as possible in the two 

 or three minutes required to take 

 the case from the hive; then, if 

 the bees are actively engaged in 

 gathering honey, allow the case to 

 stand on end on the top of the 

 hive from which it came for llfleeu 

 or twenty minutes when it will be 

 Ibund free from bees. 



Another way is to pile the cases, 

 so as to give the light free access 

 to each, under a bee tent with a 

 small hole in one or more of the 

 upper corners, when the bees will 

 soon leave the honey and the tent. 



A third method is by means of 

 a honey house with windows and 

 screens thereto, so constructed, as 

 to give the bees free exit but so 

 as to forbid them entrance. In 

 such a house, stack up the cases as 

 above so as to admit the light 

 IVeel}'. The honey will soon be 

 deserted by the bees, but if the 

 quantity of honey is great the bees 

 will cluster in the windows and 

 go out slowly, resulting in the soil- 

 ing of the windows and more or 

 less dead bees scattered about. I 



