GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1921 



THE^FIELDDF EXPERT 



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HONEY EXTRACTING EXHIBITS 



Extracting and Bottling Honey an Attractive 

 Feature at the Minnesota State Fair 



The beekeepers of Minnesota have their 

 own building at the State Fair, called "Bees 

 and Honey Building." It is a large build- 

 ing. The exhibits are divided into three 

 classes: Quality exhibits, displays, and ed- 

 ucational exhibits. The State Fair board 

 gives prizes amounting to $1,200 on quality 

 exhibits and displays, and allows an extra 

 sum for educational exhibits. One of these 

 exhibits is the extracting exhibit. The fair 

 board has purchased a four-frame extractor 

 run by electric power, uncapping tables, 

 honey tanks, heaters, and a bottling outfit. 

 The whole exhibit is on a raised platform 

 20 X 12 feet, surrounded by a heavy rail. 

 Arrangements are made every year in the 

 spring with some large beekeeper to produce 

 extracted honey in attractive and well-built 

 frames. Before I went to Europe, during 

 the war, I furnished the honey for extract- 

 ing. Dr. L. D. Leonard of Minneapolis has 

 had the contract since. The State Fair 

 board pays for all hired help and actual ex- 

 penses of extracting, and grants the exhib- 

 itor sole right to sell his honey during the 

 State Fair week to visitors. After the fair 

 is over all exhibitors may sell their honey, 

 beginning Saturday afternoon. 



The extracting exhibit is in operation 

 from 8 a. m. until 6 p. m., from Monday to 

 Saturday. One man does the uncapping, 

 one runs the extractor, one lectures from the 

 platform and answers questions. Two 

 women are employed at bottling and label- 

 ing, and three or more are selling honey 

 from an attractive counter adjoining the ex- 

 tracting outfit. 



Two storage tanks are used, each of 100 

 gallons capacity. Honey is bottled from 

 one tank while it is settling in the other. 



Two problems have always been hard to 

 solve in connection with the exhibit: First, 

 to keep the otherwise mussy job of uncap- 

 ping and handling frames, also the uncap- 

 ping table, extractor, tables, floor, etc., so 

 clean that the public is pleased to see it; 

 and secondly, to keep robber bees from en- 

 tering the building thru gates which neces- 

 sarily must be kept wide ajar all day long. 



The extracting exhibit has made the pub- 

 lic in Minnesota acquainted with the nature 

 of extracted honey and its mode of produc- 

 tion, and has thereby removed a great deal 

 of prejudice and improved the sales of ex- 

 tracted honey. The State Fair board con- 

 siders the honey-extracting exhibit one of 

 the most attractive and popular exhibits at 

 the fair. The total paid admittance at the 

 Minnesota State Fair in 1920 was 535,000. 

 Francis Jager. 



University Farm, St. Paul, Minn. 



A small part of the Wisconsin State Fair honey exhibit, 1920. This was a large and impressive exhibit. 



