958 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15. 



tell when the jars are sufficiently heated by 

 occasionally lifting out a jar 



I have often been asked how to simplify the 

 insertion of corks. I take a pail containing 

 water to the depth of half an inch, and fill the 

 pail with corks and place on a lid. Let the 

 water boil a few minutes, and they are ready 

 for use. Do not use the ones that are water- 

 soaked, but use the steamed ones. You will 

 find them soft and pliable, and none will 

 break. The water-soaked ones can be used at 

 another time. 



I have experimented with different waxes 

 and combinations of waxes, but have found 

 nothing that suits me as well as paraffine and 

 beeswax, about half and half. Half a tea- 

 spoonful on each cork, immediately after 

 removing from the hot bath, does the work 

 neatly, and a side label and a tinfoil cap 

 make them ready for delivery. It is difficult 

 to learn how to put on the foil caps neatly; 

 but a little practice is all that is required. I 

 use a )4-inch strap, which is securely fastened 

 to the table ; wind it around the neck of the 

 jar, with the strap in my left hand and jar in 

 right hand ; pull snugly on ,the strap, and 

 this will smooth down the edges of the foil 

 beautifully. 



Indianapolis, Ind., Nov. 14. 



[At first I was inclined to believe that the 

 honey should be heated to the requisite tem- 

 perature before bottling ; but after some ex- 

 perience in putting up bottled goods we have 

 come to the conclusion that Mr. Pouder is 

 right in saying that the bottles should be fill- 

 ed while the honey is cold, for the simple rea- 

 son that this part of the labor can be done at 

 any time when one has leisure. Of course, 

 the jars containing the honey must be heated 

 before they are sealed. This is done by set- 

 ting them in a vat of hot water nearly up to 

 their necks, and keeping them there till the 

 honey is heated clear through, reaching a tem- 

 perature anywhere from 160 to 180 degrees ; 

 then while hot the jars should be picked up 

 by the neck, and corked. When sealed, an 

 attendant can, with a moist rag, wipe them 

 clean, and label them ; or one can do all the 

 work himself if he chooses. 



Mr. Pouder makes another good point when 

 he says he makes a practice of mixing his 

 raspberry, basswood, and clover honey before 

 bottling. To give a set of customers at one 

 time a flavor of basswood, and at another 

 time a flavor of clover, always creates suspi- 

 cion. If consumers get the same taste every 

 time, and it is easier to maintain the same 

 taste by mixing, no objection will be raised to 

 the second lot of honey. Then this is true : 

 There will be times when one will be able to 

 get but little clover honey — take, for example, 

 this past season ; but if we can get just a little, 

 and then mix basswood with alfalfa, moun- 

 tain sage, or some equally good flavor, we can 

 still hold the trade. 



On this particular point, Mr. Selser's prac- 

 tice — and he is, perhaps, the most extensive 

 bottler of pure honey in the United States — is 

 quite different. He puts up only clover hon- 

 ey. Basswood, no matter how good, he will 



not hpve at any price, because he says his 

 trade will make trouble for him if he puts up 

 any other flavor. 



These are points I should like to have our 

 honey-bottlers discuss; and particularly should 

 we like to hear from Mr. Selser. 



I should like to ask Mr. Pouder a few more 

 questions. What is the size and depth of 

 your melting- vat ? Is this vat of water heated 

 on the stove or by means of a steam jet ? Do 

 you find it necessary to have more than one 

 vat — one, say, for two-quart Mason jars, and 

 another for short jars like the Muth ? If the 

 vat is heated on the stove, do you find it nec- 

 essary to have a false bottom in the vat to 

 raise the glass jars slightly above the bottom 

 of the vat, to prevent breaking the glass ? If 

 the bottom of the jars come in actual contact 

 with the bottom of the vat, they would receive 

 a greater heat than if they were raised up so 

 there could be a complete circulation of water 

 under. Another question : Should the corks 

 be a trifle large, and put in with a corking- 

 machine, or is it sufficient to have them just 

 right, and put them in by hand ? Should a 

 large or small label be used? and should it be 

 on the cork or on the front of the bottle ? 

 Again, please tell the readers how you wash 

 the jars. This may seem like a simple matter, 

 but certainly there are good ways and poor 

 ones. After the jars are washed, do you rinse 

 them with hot or cold water ? In either case, 

 how do you diy them out? 



There are three or four others who are writ- 

 ing a series of articles on this subject, and I 

 wish they would place before them this same 

 set of questions, for I hope no one will take it 

 for granted that certain things are well known, 

 and, therefore, do not need amplification. — 



Ed.] 



»»« 



BOTTLING AND SELLING HONEY. 



Importance of Filling Jars while Hot, and Filling 

 Full; "Extracted" and Candied Honey. 



BY GEO. SHIBER. 



I was very much interested in the article of 

 Mr. Pouder in the Oct. 15th issue, on bottling 

 and selling extracted honey, as his experience 

 is so parallel with my own. I thought, after 

 reading it, that perhaps my experience in this 

 line would be interesting and profitable to 

 some who had not thoroughly mastered the 

 " knack " of selling honey in the extracted 

 form. Oh that word extracted ! what a terror 

 that was to me ! It somehow has the ring of 

 extract, or honey extract, extract of hone)', a 

 sort of adulterated sound to the uninitiated. 

 But I believe I have mastered the term so far 

 as its prejudicing my trade is concerned. 



I am not a large bee-keeper, having only a 

 few colonies for comb honey, which always 

 easily sells ; so with selling comb honey this 

 article has no concern, but selling only ex- 

 tracted from the dealer's standpoint. As I 

 have for some years past conducted a retail 

 store, grown from boyhood to manhood in the 

 business, I make the statement that any gro- 

 cer will welcome and buy any article that is 



