190 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



the Dominion Experiment Farm, Ottawa, 

 Canada. 



Prof. Shutt, Chemist at the Experiment 

 Farm, undertook the work of finding- the 

 percentage of water in the above samples. 

 That Prof. Shutt is a deep and original 

 thinker, as well as a skillful chemist, we 

 will readily admit from the following- facts: 

 He found that in driving- off water by heat- 

 ing in a tube, not only was the honey given 

 off, but a portion of the saccharine matter. 

 The levulose decomposed very readily, car- 

 amelization taking place, and that the loss 

 in the weight of honey could not be entirely 

 attributed to the driving-off of water, de- 

 composition of the saccharine matter taking 

 place. I may, in passing, say that, when 

 honey is being scorched, which we know it 

 so readily can be, this process is taking 

 place. By one sweep, as it were. Prof. 

 Shutt found that all the past tests were in- 

 accurate as to the percentage of water in 

 honey. Not discouraged, Prof. Shutt set 

 about to find out some way of doing this 

 to prevent caramelization. At the annual 

 meeting of the Ontario Bee-keepers' Associ- 

 ation, held last week in Barrie, the above 

 gentleman announced that he had succeed- 

 ed in finding a way of doing this by means 

 of a prolonged lower temperature. It ap- 

 pears to me that by this method we have a 

 key to the method of liquefying granulated 

 honey without the least possible injury to 

 flavor. 



THIN HONEY. 



From the tables which I give herewith it 

 will be seen that my claim as to the best 

 method of handling extracted honey is cor- 

 rect. This season we extracted while 

 warm, strained the honey into and through 

 a filling-can with a gate, and from that 

 gate allowed the honey to run directlj'^ into 

 barrels which were closed at the bung as 

 soon as filled. My claim was that, in our 

 atmosphere, honey would not throw off mois- 

 ture, but rather attract it; and, more, that 

 the aroma which new clover and thistle, as 

 well as other honey, have when freshly 

 extracted, would be best retained by seal- 

 ing it as soon as possible after extracting. 

 Unfortunately, in the experiments, the av- 

 erage degree of humidity was not taken ; 

 however, Prof. Shutt stated that the atmos- 

 phere at Ottawa was very dry — much more 

 so than at Toronto, and that the cellar in 

 which the honey was stored was also dry. 



WATER IN HONICY, 1901. — TABLE NO. I. 



In the table, G. S. means glass stopper ; C. ' 

 C. means cheese-cloth was placed over the 

 mouth of the bottle. 



WATER IN HONEY, 1902. — TABLE NO. II. 



(See A. table No. 3). 



Other investigations showed that, in some 

 instances, the amount of water by exposure 

 to a moist atmosphere was more than dou- 

 bled ; the flavor, as we might expect, was 

 also much inferior in the exposed honey. 

 While we may except very dry atmospheres, 

 such as we find just this side of the Rock- 

 ies, the reports go to show that honey can 

 not be ripened by exposure to ordinary 

 atmosphere in summer; and I know that 

 in Canada, at least, we could get an in- 

 creased market for honey if all would allow 

 honey to be well ripened before extracting, 

 and then give it proper care until it reaches 

 the consumers' hands. 



STORAGE OF HONEY IN (a) MOIST AND (b) DRY AT- 

 MOSPHERE.— TABLE NO. III. 



November and 

 December, 19^2 



A — kept in .saturat- 

 ed atmosphere 

 during 1 month 



B — kept in a cup- 

 board during 1 

 month - labora- 

 tory atmosph're 



D— kept in saturat- 

 ed atmosphere 

 during 20 cays 



E^kept in a cup 

 board during 20 

 days — labora- 

 tory atmosph're 



Original 

 Moisture 



Honey 



15.88 per ct. 



15.88 per ct. 

 15.88 per ct. 



Gain or 

 Loss dur- 

 ing Ex- 

 periment 



15.58 per ct. 



-1.64 per ct. 

 32.35 per ct. 



15.88 per ct. 1-2,04 per ct. 



Moisture in 

 the Honey 

 at End Ex- 

 periment 



31.46 per ct. 



14 24 per ct. 



48.'23 per ct. 



13.84 per ct. 



Tables No. 1 and 2 show that, with al- 

 most no variation, the uncapped honey has 

 the greater per cent of water. It is this 

 inferior honey which is doing so much in 

 damaging the market for honey. Not only 

 has this honey not the aroma and flavor of 

 the ripe honey, but if kept in stock by a 

 dealer or the consumer in a temperature 

 high enough to cause fermentation, it fer- 

 ments. Unfortunately the inexperienced 

 party does not know "what struck him," 

 the work which I am doing at farmers' in- 

 stitute meetings. I have just returned from 

 a long trip of that nature, to tell bee-keep- 

 ers how to produce and keep a good article, 

 and tell the dealer and consumer how to 

 judge it. Until we as bee-keepers realize 

 the deeply important nature of this question 

 we shall not have and hold the largest 



