1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



51li 



said about it: "Now, while tho body, color, 

 and llavor are excollent, there is one feature 

 that is against it; and that is its tendency to 

 granulate. Alfalfa comb honey, as a rule, will 

 not keep over winter without granulating to 

 some extent, both in brood combs and In sections. 

 I suppose Mr. Abbott's article was intended 

 to show that I misrepresented, more or less, 

 alfalfa honey. That he utterly failed in this, 

 I shall prove by his own words. The first sen- 

 tence in the third paragraph of Mr. Abbott's 

 article, page 3:.M, admits every thing I said, for 

 it reads- "I know that, generally speaking, 

 alfalfa honey granulates very quickly; but I 

 am inclined to think that this is due more to 

 the way the honey is handled than to any in- 

 herent tendency in the nectar of the alfalfa- 

 plant." 



I said it has a " tendency to granulate," re- 

 ferring to alfalfa honey, then qualified as to 

 comb honey, by saying, "as a rule, will not 

 keep over winter without granulating to some 

 extenV Is not that both "generally speak- 

 ing." and qualifiedly too? The italics I have 

 supplied here. Further, Mr. A. did not know 

 what he was talking about when he intimates 

 that it is " the way the honey is handled " that 

 causes its granulation. More light on this 

 farther along. 



Let me quote Mr. Abbott again: " I am also 

 of the opinion that the tendency to granulate 

 is due to alack of ' body.' " Throughout the 

 article he intimates that producers of alfalfa 

 take unripe honey. In closing his third para- 

 graph he says, "I incline to the opinion that 

 the great tendency to granulate shown by 

 extracted alfalfa honey is due to improper 

 manipulation, and I would advise the other 

 extracted-honey producers of Colorado to take 

 a few lessons from Mr. Foster, and to work for 

 quality rather than quantity, and thf-n they 

 will not say that all alfalfa honey will granu- 

 late in a short time. I know from experience 

 that it will not." 



Now, Mr. Abbott, just tell me who said, and 

 where, that all alfalfa honey granulates, even 

 in a long time ? I wonder, too, if Mr. Foster's 

 letter, which I quote hereinafter, will not throw 

 some light on your " experience " whereby you 

 "know" about these matters. Friend Abbott, 

 before I leave you just let me ask you how 

 many tons of alfalfa honey have you handled? 

 what per cent did not granulate? was it heated 

 after being extracted? 



Mr. F. L. Thompson asks a few questions, 

 pages 321, 322, which I will answer. Referring 

 to granulation he asks: "Is it not true that 

 there is a marked difference between early and 

 late honey in this respect?" Yes, there is a 

 diflference. The early honey seems thicker, 

 and does not granulate nearly so much in the 

 comb, but does granulate when extracted. My 

 experience with comb (section), kept over win- 



ter, Is that a small per cent will granulate. I 

 have never kept more than a small amount, 

 always dry but not warm. 



Tho rest of your questions I can not fully 

 answer; but in a general way I will say that 

 my opinion is that straight alfalfa comb, kept 

 as 99 out of every 100 bee-keepers or merchants 

 would keep it. would granulate from 5 to 20 per 

 cent. Tho cells would not become solid, but be 

 a mixture of granules and liquid. My extract- 

 ed always granulates, and so does all alfalfa 

 extracted I have ever seen. One year there 

 was a How from red and alsike clover right at 

 the start, and this honey did not granulate so 

 solid as that a few days later, after the clover 

 was cut down. 



In order to be more certain, and that others 

 besides myself might testify, I have sent out 

 the following list of questions to a number of 

 apiarists: 



1. How quickly, and what per cent of your 

 extracted alfalfa honey granulates? 



2. What per cent of your alfalfa comb honey 

 granulates if kept over winter? 



3. Do the winter stores in the brood-combs 

 granulate, and to what extent ? 



4. In the matter of granulation, how does 

 alfalfa compare with other honeys? 



Mr. Oliver Foster, Las Animas, Colo , replied 

 somewhat in detail. He has given me his con- 

 sent to use any part of his letter in print that I 

 may wish, so I am going to use it all. I know 

 that friend Abbott will want a lesson or two 

 from it. Here is his letter: 



In reply to your questions of the 22d, I have read 

 with interest, your article on the granulation of 

 alfalfa honey, and also that of my friend Abbott. 

 I think you are both in a measure rig-ht. My alfalfa 

 honey, both comb and extracted, does, as a rule, 

 granulate, but it does not seem to be confined to 

 rule. Comb lioncy does not granulate until late In 

 the winter, and then It does not get very hard un- 

 less lioney has been previously extracted from the 

 comb. I do not think my extracted alfalfa honey 

 granulates sooner than basswood. clover, and 

 heartsease of Iowa. If it did. I should not consider 

 that an obiection unless it also granulated quickly 

 after melting, which it does not. if properly melted 

 and if It is well ripened. Alfalfa honey may be 

 very thick and not ripe I think it can not be pro- 

 duced in perfect quality by ordinary methods. We 

 use 40 to 45 L combs to the colony, and then heat 

 the honey before and after extracting to get it out, 

 and througli a fine muslin strainer. After storing 

 in 60-lb. cans we let it granulate as hard and as soon 

 as It pleases. Just before shippi g we melt it with 

 a slow heat in a water bath. It takes 24 hours to 

 melt honey properly. Wfe leave the cap screwed on 

 tight while melting. ..,,,,- 



In answer to your questions: 1. Extracted alfalfa 

 usually granulates at tlie approach of cool or cold 

 weather; the time depends on season of extracting. 

 Perhaps one to three per cent will not granulate at 

 all: thai is, ..f 100 1-lb. cans filled from the same lot, 

 a few never granulate, whether having been heated 

 oi' not. 2. 1 think about all alfalfa comb honey will 

 granulate if kept over winter, unless It is kept in a 

 very warm place— usually by Jan. 1. ■,, ^ 



:i. The winter stores in brood-combs granulated last 

 winter and three years ago to an extent affecting 

 seriously the prosperity of many colonies; but 1 

 think it was owing to other than alfalfa honey. 



4. In the matter of candying, alfalfa honey com- 

 pares favorably with other honeys, except in the 

 case of comb honey. Oliver Foster. 



Mr. D. S. Jenkins, also of Las Animas, re- 



