323 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



November 



The Oare of Honey. 



BY FRED S. THORINGTON. 



I know of but few subjects pertain- 

 ing to beekeeping that needs to be 

 written and rewritten more than the 

 care of honey, both extracted and 

 comb honey. The experienced apiar- 

 ist has learned his lesson well, partly 

 by some well written article penned 

 for the sole purpose to kindly advise 

 the n(wice in beekeeping how to avoid 

 mistakes made by our fore-fathers, 

 and partly by his or her own experi- 

 ments. The knowledge is gained 

 though sometimes by the harsh and 

 sure teacher, experience. Sometimes 

 the beginner has no way to learn from ' 

 the writings of others; yet so cheap as 

 our bee-journals and text books are 

 now, but few need to go without one 

 or more of them for the want of mony. 

 They can be had from 50 cents to 

 $1.50 each, and there are some good 

 ones as low as 25 cents. Yet with all 

 the bee books of the present day I 

 find a vast ignorance in the proper 

 care of bees and honey. I know of 

 some beekeepers who take as good a 

 bee-journal or journals as there is pub- 

 lished, that will say when asked a 

 week or more after they get a number 

 if they have read a certain article. 

 "No I have not," and seem surprised 

 there is such an article in the journal. 

 The writer knows of one young man 

 that took a good journal and when a 

 number was received he would lock 

 it up in his trunk and never read it. 

 The money he paid for it was wasted, 

 and it is such ones that is apt to say 

 in a few years beekeeping don't pay. 

 In beekeeping like every other indus- 

 try we must inform ourselves in some 

 way if we succeed. "VVe should pro- 

 cure good journals and books pub- 



lished in the interest of beekeepers, 

 then read, read, read, and at the same 

 time practice the good we read, and 

 at the same time we can find out some 

 things ourselves. This rule will hold 

 good in regard to the care of honey 

 as well as any other branch of bee- 

 keeping. Our honey needs care long 

 after we dispose of it. The middle 

 men and consumers as a rule know 

 but little about the proper care of it 

 and it is often injured if not spoiled 

 entirely after it has been marked. I 

 often wonder how this class of people 

 that is inseperably connected with bee- 

 keeping can be informed as to the 

 proper care of honey. There are but 

 few of our newspapers that will spread 

 the information, and the beekeeper 

 has but little chance to do it as many 

 of the people never see a bee journal. 

 How can it be best done ? 1 tell all 

 such ones I can, but such a course is 

 slow and unsatisfactory. Last fall 

 one of our grocery keepers told me if 

 I would keep my comb honey until 

 cool, frosty nights he would buy it of 

 me. He further stated he had no 

 good way to keep it cool until then, 

 and it would drip so in warm weather. 

 This same man has sold honey for 

 years past and should have been bet- 

 ter informed. This fall a hotel keeper 

 ordered some comb honey of me, and 

 said, " 1 want the comb because I have 

 no place to keep the extracted. 1 have 

 a good refrigerator and I always put 

 the comb honey in it as soon as I get 

 it. I buy the extracted in the winter," 

 but did not say where he would keep 

 it. A few days ago an intelligent 

 lady called at my home who was a 

 stranger to me. During her stay she 

 tasted some of my new white clover 

 extracted honey and inquired into the 



