38 A. AND M. COLLEGE APIARY. 



CLEANLINESS. 



Throughout the entire honey flow, while preparing the honey for mar- 

 ket, and in fact at all times, the utmost cleanliness should be observed. 

 In many cases the extracting houses of bee keepers present a sight that 

 is far from inviting to the prospective purchaser of honey. Rusty and 

 dirty extractors, dead bees, decaying and moth-eaten combs, and in some 

 cases frames of decaying brood greet the eyes of the visitor. Such sights 

 will destroy the taste and desire for honey regardless of "the purity of 

 nature's sweet." There is absolutely no question but that the unclean- 

 liness and lack of neatness tolerated by many bee. keepers immensely 

 injure the local demand for their products, and on the price of honey 

 as a whole exert a depressing influence. Producers of honey have no 

 cause to complain of "low prices" so long as they fail to put up an arti- 

 cle that "for cleanliness and wholesomeness is unexcelled." An extract- 

 ing house with an amount of dirt about it that would be a disgrace to 

 a plug tobacco factory will drive away the most enthusiastic customer 

 with an utter disgust for honey in any form. While it may be hopeless 

 to try to reform some of the men who have followed this practice for 

 years, yet we would caution the beginner, both for his own profit and 

 for the good of the industry as a whole, to adhere to cleanliness through- 

 out, in every detail. 



PREPARING HONEY FOR MARKET. 



Closely connected with taking off the honey crop, is the work of pre- 

 paring honey for market. Sections should have all propolis scraped from 

 sides and edges so as to present as clean and neat an appearance as pos- 

 sible. The sections should then be "graded." While there is more or 

 less variation in grading rules according to locality, the following rules, 

 taken from "Gleanings in Bee Culture," are to be commended: 



Grading Rules. 



"Fancy. All sections to be well filled, combs straight, firmly attached 

 to all four sides, the combs unstained by travel-stain or otherwise; all 

 the cells sealed except an occasional cell, the outside surface of the wood 

 well scraped of propolis. 



"A No. 1. All sections well filled except the row of cells next to the 

 wood; combs straight; one-eighth part of comb surface slightly soiled; 

 the outside of the wood well scraped of propolis. 



"No. 1. All sections well filled except the row of cells next the wood; 

 combs comparatively even; one-eighth part of comb surface soiled, or 

 the entire surface slightly soiled. 



"No. 2. Three-fourths of the total surface must be filled and sealed. 



"No. 3. Must weigh at least half as much as a full weight section. 



"In addition to this, the honey is to be classified according to color, 

 using the terms white, amber and dark; that is, there will be 'Fancy 

 White,' 'No. 1 Dark/ etc." 



Only Fancy, A No. 1, and No. 1 should be shipped, and even for local 

 demand it is advisable to give the customer the best grade possible. No. 

 2 can be used as table honey by the bee keeper himself, or together with 



