124 



AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 



strainer to catch dead bees, large pieces of wax, &c. 



and the under one finer, 

 cleaned when required. 



Fig. ^-j. 



ALEXANDER STRAINER. 



These can be taken out and 



A good plan, if the con- 

 tour of the ground will 

 allow of it, is to arrange 

 the honey-tank at a level 

 3 ft. or so below the 

 extractor and strainer, so 

 that the honey, after pas- 

 sing through very fine 

 meshes and thus being 

 split up into fine threads, 

 shall fall that distance 

 before reaching the tank. 

 The atmosphere, being 

 warm and dry, will ab- 

 sorb very much of the 

 moisture in the honey in 

 its descent. 



The late E. W. Alexander introduced the strainer 

 shown in Fig. 77, which is in the form of a bucket, 

 the sides, and bottom, being made of fine wire gauze, 

 50 meshes to the inch. They are obtainable from hive 

 manufacturers. 



LIQUEFYING GRANULATED HONEY. 



I wish to caution bee-keepers against overheating 

 when liquefying granulated honey. The usual advice 

 given is that it may be heated up to 160° Fahr. without 

 doing harm to the honey. From close observation I 

 am satisfied that much of the fine aroma and flavour 

 characteristic of our best honey is lost when slowly 

 heated up to anything near that temperature. To avoid 

 injury the honey should not be heated many degrees 

 above the normal temperature of the hive in summer — 

 say, about 110°. I am fully aware that granulated 

 honey will take a long time to liquefy at that temper- 

 ature, but better that than injure it. 



