364 



GLEANINGS IN DEE CULTURE. 



Apr, 1 



to flow. In this way we get the honey free 

 from scum or particles of comb. 



But in letting this honey stand over night 

 we lose much of that beautiful aroma so 

 apparent in honey fresh from the hive. All 

 bee-keepers know of this exquisite aroma, 

 so noticeable while extracting and when 

 working over the hive, before it has been 

 exposed to the air. We are told that flowers 

 secrete volatile oil as well as honey, and that 

 some of this oil is carried and stored with 

 the honey, which gives it that delicate 

 aroma we all strive so hard to retain. It 

 appears that this volatile oil evaporates and 

 passes off when the honey is exposed to the 

 air for any length of time in open tanks ; so 

 if we want to retain this aroma we rnust 

 can our honey as fast as extracted, even if it 

 does contain a little scum. It is obvious 

 that, if we can retain this aroma, the scum 

 is of a secondary nature. 



I will confess that my experience has been 

 limited in this mode of handling honey ; but 

 what experience I have had has been quite 

 favorable to this early canning. In fact, I 

 have so much confidence that this is the cor- 

 rect principle for putting up extracted honey 

 that I shall handle quite a large part of my 

 1905 crop, in this way. A small tank will 

 be arranged with a fine muslin strainer; and 

 as fast' as the honey passes through the 

 strainer, while it still contains the animal 

 heat, it will be canned up air-tight. This 

 will save quite a little in expense for tanks, 

 and also take up less room in the extracting- 

 house ; but one will have to keep a good 

 stock of shipping-cans on hand. 



Another point, this warm honey will run 

 through the gate of the tank much faster 

 than cold honey, so the canning and weigh- 

 ing will not take nearly as long as with cold 

 honey. 



Now, Mr. Editor, can't we have a little 

 discussion along the line of handling honey 

 after it is extracted ? I think some good 

 would come from it, for I am thoroughly 

 convinced there is no part of the production 

 of extracted honey where so little thought 

 and system are used as in this part of the 

 manipulation of the crop. ' I have been in a 

 good many bee-yards in this State, and I 

 find there is no uniformity in the handling of 

 honey. A good many leave their honey in 

 open tanks, barrels, lard-cans, and, in fact 

 (in some cases), any thing that will hold 

 honey. Few have a suitable place to store 

 honey, even if handled in an expeditious 

 manner. 



I have known some to leave their honey 

 until it candied hard, thus causing them the 

 extra work of remelting before they could 

 put it up in shape for market. This, accord- 

 ing to my ideas, makes the crop worth less, 

 for the aroma will be lost ; and unless it is 

 done very carefully the color also will be 

 affected. 



In melting candied honey in 60-lb. cans, 

 leave the screw-caps in place. This will 

 retain the aroma, and prevent the honey 

 running over on account of the expansion of 

 the heat. Use a slow fire in melting, as the 



honey may be spoiled. It ought to take 

 three or four days to remelt a 60-lb. can of 

 honey that is candied solid. Never think of 

 allowing the water around the can to boil, 

 or your honey will be ruined. If you use 

 dry heat in rnelting, it ought to be a rather 

 slower process than the water method. 

 Remus, Mich. 



[So far as I can recall, the importance of 

 having honey sealed immediately after ex- 

 tracting has never been particularly empha- 

 sized. There have been various hints and 

 some slight references in the matter, I 

 think. I am inclined to believe there is 

 much in what our correspondent has said, 

 for two reasons: 1. Extracted honey, just 

 as it is taken from the comb at the height 

 of the season does have a peculiar aroma 

 that one does not ordinarily find after it has 

 stood for a time in open cans; possibly this 

 aroma is due to the unripeness. A little un- 

 ripe basswood just from the comb I like; 

 2. There are many who prefer comb honey 

 to extracted, urging that the former is 

 sweeter, or has some quality about it that 

 makes it taste better than the latter. As- 

 suming for argument's sake that honey fresh 

 from the comb has a certain aroma that 

 honey long from the comb does not have, 

 there is just one difficulty; and that is, how 

 to get rid of the scum and dirt. So far 

 straining does not seem to accomplish the 

 result satisfactorily. For that reason large 

 settling-tanks have been almost universally 

 regarded as a necessity by extracted-honey 

 producers. Now, then, if the honey be seal- 

 ed in cans immediately, it appears to me 

 that the scum and settlings would be more 

 objectionable than the loss of a small amount 

 of aroma. In other words, the looks or ap- 

 pearance would be a much stronger factor 

 in seUing or not selling the article than the 

 flavor. We should be glad to hear from 

 others of our subscribers, now that Mr. 

 To wnsend has opened the discussion. —Ed.] 



CLOSED-END FRAMES FOR WINTERING. 



Not so Good in Severe Winters; Better in Most 



Other Respects; the Danzenbaker 



Frame Liked. 



BY N. D. WEST. 



In wintering bees outdoors in chaff-packed 

 hives, with closed-end frames, I have noticed 

 that, in severe winters, water and ice are 

 more liable to collect on the inside of the 

 end-bars, thus preventing the bees from 

 going around the end of the comb. The 

 moisture becomes more general all through 

 the hive, and in severe continued cold win- 

 ters bees do not winter as well outdoors as jj 

 they do in open-end frames or in the Hoff- .fl 

 man, which is open most of the way down. ^ 

 In a mild winter the closed-end frames win- 

 ter bees even better than the open- end 

 frames. Closed-end frames are better for 

 cellar wintering. In the cool weather of 

 spring and fall, bees breed up faster in 



