124 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



that it wouldn't candy, and then I would try 

 to make a market for it at something like 

 comb honey prices. 



I've always stacked up my supers full of 

 honey just i\s you say, "criss-cross in the 

 honey-house," to ripen more, but I think I 

 shall change. When the supers cross each 

 other there is not the best chance for the air 

 to get to the central sections, as three-fourths 

 of the surface of one super is covered by the 

 one above. I think it will he an improve- 

 ment to "stick" them up like lumber, put- 

 ting one directly over the other. An inch 

 stick at each end between the supers will 

 give the air an equal chance at all parts, and 

 will, I think, allow a greater number packed 

 in the same room. Space must l>e left be- 

 tween the piles, and next the wall for circu- 

 lation of air, and screens in doors and win- 

 dows must allow free entrance of air with- 

 out insects. A cool or damp time may make 

 it desirable to close doors and windows or 

 even to make a fire. 



I believe it is pretty generally noted that 

 sections need not be brimstoned, but I hard- 

 ly feel safe to omit it. I have seen worms 

 on honey, in the hands of commission men, 

 large enough to disgust any would-l>e pur- 

 chaser, and yet it is quite i)ossible that the 

 producers were strong advocates of non- 

 smoking, seeing no necessity for it so long 

 as the honey remained in their hands. 



After using a good many twenty-four 

 pound shipping cases I adopted the twelve 

 pound. Aside from greater cost, a serious 

 objection to the single-tier is the matter of 

 looks. A middle bar of an inch or a little 

 more on the twenty-four, pound cases allows 

 a pile of such cases to look a good deal nicer 

 than a pile of twelve pounds. The advan- 

 tage of the single tier case can be retained 

 in the double i)y having a false bottom in 

 the center, supported by I4 inch division 

 boards between the sections below. So, of 

 late I have used twenty-four pound double 

 tier shipping cases. 



An important point in shipping is to have 

 sections well fastened at bottom. This is 

 secured by using starters at top and bottom. 



Makengo, 111., June 10, 181t0. 



Extracted Honey — Some Criticisms on the 



Last Issue — Is the Public Prejudiced 



Against Candied Honey 1 



OHAS. DADANT. 



IHERE is an objection to putting hon- 

 ey into tin cans directly from the ex- 

 tractor, on account of the small parti- 

 cles of wax that pass throutrh the 

 seive. These small particles in a barrel of 

 about .')()0 pounds are not worth mentioning, 

 as not more than one per cent, of the con- 

 tents will be soiled, and it is easy to melt 

 these few pound and skim them afterwards ; 

 but a few of these particles of wax floating 

 on the top of a GO lb. tin can of honey may 

 prejudice the buyer against its neatness. 



It is almost unnecessary to say that the 

 ost of barrels is far less than half the price 

 f tin cans ; that is, for the same capacity. 



( )f course, the bee-keeper may place his 

 honey in jars as he extracts, and skim it at 

 his leisure, but such a plan is impossible 

 in case of a large crop. Imagine the space 

 and number of vessels needed to receive and 

 skim the eighty-five barrels of honey har- 

 vested by us, last year, in six weeks ! We 

 extracted from 1,.500 to 2,.^)(K1 pounds a day. 



In the June number of the Review, the 

 "Rambler" says: "Nearly all this fine 

 writing on the ripening of honey, by allow- 

 ing it to remain on the hive several weeks, 

 is more or less theoretical, and does not hold 

 good in practice." And yet, this is exactly 

 the way we raise honey. Since the inven- 

 tion of the extractor, we have directed our 

 attention towards providing our apiaries 

 with such a number of regular combs as to 

 furnish the bees with enough room to store 

 the entire crop of one season, or, at least, 

 the yield from the same flower. Then, as 

 clover blooms here from about May 25 to 

 July ,'"), the first surplus combs remain on 

 the hives from four to six weeks ; four 

 weeks if the space given proves insuflicient, 

 as was the case last year, but seven weeks 

 in most of the years. If one of the "rambles" 

 of our friend brings him around here, I in- 

 vite him to visit us and see the 2,000 or 2,.500 

 surplus combs of our home apiary. We 

 have a proportional number of them in ev- 

 ery one of our six apiaries. 



Although all of the cells are never capped, 

 this ripening by the bees gives as good 

 honey as possible. 



Spring honey generally candies too coarse- 

 ly. I suppose such coarse granulation is the 

 result of the honey remaining liquid so long 

 under the influence of the summer heat. 

 Some of its molecules, having an afiinity 

 for one another, aggregate, leaving free the 

 other more watery particles. In France 

 such coarsely granulated honey is not esti- 

 mated as having as much value as the more 

 finely granulated ; and the wise bee-keeper, 

 before putting his coarsely granulated honey 

 upon the market, melts it slowly by warm- 

 ing the can in water. All the watery parts 

 then disappear by their combination with the 

 dissolved, coarse grains ; and the honey has 

 less tendency to ferment. ( )ur twenty years 

 of experience have proved to us that granu- 

 lated honey, if carefKlhi nielfed, is equal in 

 (juality to hone y just taken from the hive. 



I do not like the term (able saitve, as ap- 

 plied to honey. According to English and 

 French dictionaries, this word means a mix- 

 ture, or a composition to be eaten with food. 

 Honey is not a mixtui-e, any more than is 

 butter or jelly. Our friend Heddon, who, 

 I think, was the first to use this term in con- 

 nection with honey, was not well inspired. 

 The word sauce may call to mind a number 

 of unsavory condiments. Besides, candied 

 honey is sometimes as hard as butter, which 

 is not considered a sauce. 



Having inhabited a country where liquid 

 honey in winter would be viewed with sus- 

 picion, I cannot imagine why all the lead- 

 ing bee-keepers do not urge every one to do 

 their utmost to overcome the i)rejudice, 

 which exists in this country, against candied 

 liouey. This prejudice was inaugurated by 

 the rascals who used to sell glucose for hon- 



