66 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



ner, extracted honey that ■will be the equal 

 of that that drips from the delicate morsel of 

 comb at the tea table. 



Until the time of putting on the supers, 

 our management would be the same as that 

 advised in the production of comb honey. 

 In the supers we would use shallow combs, 

 and practice tiering up, the same as in rais- 

 ing comb honey. Right here comes in an 

 advantage not present in raising comb lioney ; 

 in tiering up, we need not wait for the honey 

 to be sealed. Most bee-keepers know that 

 honey is seldom sealed until it is ripened, 

 but all do not know that it may be ripe, and 

 yet not be sealed. In fact, the ripening pro- 

 cess may be hastened, or made more com- 

 plete, if the sealing can be prevented. In 

 other words, the ripening process goes on 

 more slowly after the cells are capped, and 

 would not go on at all were it not that the 

 cappings are more or less porous. By rais- 

 ing up these shallow sets of comb as fast as 

 they are filled, and putting another set un- 

 der them, those the furthest advanced are 

 kept at the top, and the inclination to cap- 

 ping thereby discouraged. If the honey can 

 become thoroughly ripened, with perhaps 

 only one-third or one-half of the cells sealed, 

 what a saving there will' be in uncapping ! 

 If we had plenty of combs, and could, to 

 a large extent, prevent the sealing of the 

 honey, we would leave it on the hives until 

 the yield from one source was over. -Just 

 notice with how little labor this can be man- 

 aged : we have only to watch and give addi- 

 tional room when it is needed, and hive the 

 few swarms that issue. We would use a 

 queen excluder ; then, whenever we were 

 ready to extract, there would be no brood 

 in the way. One of the most tedious perfor- 

 mances attending the raising of extracted 

 honey, is the getting of the bees off the 

 combs. The smoking, and shaking, and 

 brushing, accompanied by robber pests if 

 the work is done after the harvest is over, 

 a scalding sun overhead, make up a combi- 

 nation that is very trying to the •' nerves." 

 The bee-escape p)-oinises to relieve us of 

 nearly all of this unpleasantness. When 

 extracting, quite a little time is spent in tak- 

 ing out the comljs and turning them. We 

 believe the reversible extractor practically 

 saves this time. We should be glad to hear 

 from those who have tried the reversible ex- 

 tractors ; or any other extractors for that 

 matter. It would seem that, in the raising 

 of extracted honey, the kiiul of machine 



used would play an important part ; and, in 

 a discussion like this ought not to be omit- 

 ted. 



After the honey has been thorougly ripen- 

 ed, and is extracted, and found to be in pos- 

 session of all the fine qualities we have men- 

 tioned, what shall be done with it ? How 

 shall it be treated that it may retain its fla- 

 vor ? The key to success in this direction is 

 exclusion fro)n the air. Seal it up in glass 

 jars, in tin cans, or in clean barrels. Our 

 preference is the 60 lb., square tin can, with 

 screw cap, and, when shipped, a jacket of 

 wood. Upon the approach of cool weather, 

 honey will candy : and, if put away in a cool 

 place, will remain in this condition for 

 years ; and when slowly and carefully 

 brought back to its liquid state, will be 

 found to have retained its original " flavor, 

 aroma and boquette." In this discussion, 

 we don't wish to say very much about mar- 

 keting, as we probably shall have a number 

 devoted to that subject ere the year is out ; 

 but we will say that we believe that nearly 

 everyone prefers extracted honey in the 

 liquid state, and that it should be put upon 

 the retail market, and sent to consumers, in 

 this condition. It should be liquified just 

 befoi'e shipment to customers. For this 

 reason it is an advantage if the vessel in 

 which it is stoied, and in which it is to be 

 shipped, is also one in which it can be 

 melted. 



Now friends, you who have raised extract- 

 ed honey, let's hear from you ; and we will 

 put into the May Review what you have to 

 say. The discussion in the present issue is 

 excellent, but we feel that the next one can 

 be made its equal. 



THE PKODUOTION OF COMB HONEY. 



Of none of the issues of the Review have we 

 been in the least ashamed, but occasionally 

 there is a number that, to us, seems especi- 

 ally valuable. It is to the production of 

 comb honey that many of our readers are 

 putting forth their best energies — how shall 

 the most desirable results be secured with 

 the least labor, is what we all wish to know — 

 and we now have before us the advice of the 

 leaders in comb honey production — not one 

 of them who has not raised and shipped 

 this delicious luxury by the ton. For this 

 reason we are proud of this number of the 

 Review. — In the very nature of things it 

 cannot be expected that all will agree upon 



