JUNE 15, 191G 



495 



favorable influence on the aromatic princi- 

 ples in honey. Whether I am correct in this 

 I know not. 



More investigation seems necessary to de- 

 termine the influence or the alteration 

 honey undergoes when strongly heated. Dr. 

 John publislied in the Muench. Btzg. a series 

 of experiments and the methods employed 

 on the property of honey to change starch 



into fermentable sugar. Common sugar 

 must first undergo a change before it can 

 be fermented. He finds that up to 50 de- 

 grees C. the diastose in honey retains its full 

 power to change starch into sugar j but at 

 55 C. this power is reduced; and at 65 C. 

 (149 F.) this power or property is com- 

 pletely destroyed. 



Kempten, Bavaria, Germany. 



THE GRAVITY METHOD OF STRAINING HONEY 



BY W. H. CRAWFORD 



For ten years I worried with honey- 

 strainers, using several different kinds dur- 

 ing that time. In this climate honey dries 

 to thick candy very quickly when spread out 

 and exposed to the air, and on that account 

 honey-strainers clog up so often that they 

 are a nuisance. 



Twelve years ago I eliminated strainers 

 from the list of devices used in the produc- 

 tion of extracted honey. Tall tanks are 

 provided, the size and quantity depending 

 on the amount of honey to be handled. One 

 tank at a time is filled brimful of the honey 

 just as it is taken from the extractor. The 

 honey is allowed to remain in it at least 

 three days, if possible, b^^ which time gTav- 

 itation will have completely separated the 

 bits of wax and pollen or propolis from the 

 honey, pushing them clear up to the very 

 top of the tank, where they can be taken off 

 with the hand almost as easily as the peel 

 can be taken from a banana. 



The second tank is being filled while the 

 first one is allowed to settle thoroly, and 

 likewise the third tank is filled in the same 

 manner, giving ample time for the honey 

 in each tank to be thoroly separated from 

 all foreign substances that may have been 

 in it at the time when taken from the ex- 

 tractor. 



In drawing the honey out of the tanks, 

 care should be taken to leave enough honey 

 in them to stand four inches above the gate, 

 thus preventing bits of any kind, or foam, 

 from being filled out into receptacles. 



A QUICK METHOD OF FILLING PAILS ACCU- 

 RATELY. 



In filling ten-pound pails we first weigh 

 10 lbs. of honey into a ten-pound pail. This 

 pail is put on a board of any thickness, 

 7x7 inches square, cleated across the grain 

 at one end with a thin cleat, and cleated at 

 the other end with a cleat of just the right 

 thickness to incline the board when placed 

 on a level floor, to the proper angle that 

 will barely cause the honey in the pail to 

 touch the rim on the lower side. Two nails 



are driven near the lower edge of the board, 

 which prevent the pail from sliding off. 



This boai'd is put beneath the gate and 

 the pails are placed on it to be filled. It is 

 perfectly easy to fill the pails just right with 

 this device, because it is so easy to see just 

 when the honey barely touches the rim at 

 the lowest point. 



Any size of pails can be filled the same 

 way by making a board for each size, and 

 by using the same principles as described 

 above. 



Being so very handy and cheap, we never 

 think of using any other method of filling 

 pails. Should the weight of the honey 

 change at any time, the board can be easily 

 adjusted so that the proper amount of hon- 

 ey desired will fill the pail so that the re- 

 quired weight of honey just barely touches 

 the rim of the pail on the lower side. 



Roswell, K M. 



["The gravity method of clarifying honey, 

 as mentioned by our corresj^ondent, has 

 been tried under all conditions. We do not 

 knoAV who was the first to use it. Some have 

 felt that when the honey is thick and waxy 

 the gi'avity method is not practicable. How- 

 ever, the thick honey simply means that 

 more time must be allowed — hence more 

 tanks. No doubt there is a limit somewhere 

 after which the honey would require heating 

 in some way. — Ed.] 



No Use in Drawing a Color-line. 



I am much interested in the knocks on 

 the goldens. I have a few queens from the 

 best breeders in the United States; but I 

 have one black colony that I got of a farmer 

 that beat all the others last year, and win- 

 tered finely. On May 1 it had eight frames 

 of brood, and without feeding or attention 

 since last fall. These bees were wintered 

 outdoors in a double-walled hive, and are 

 very gentle. I realize they are out of date; 

 l)ut as long as they give me the most honey 

 1 will stick to the blacks. 



A Beginner. 



