24 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



rust}', battered cans is penny wise 

 and pound foolish. While the honey 

 maybe just as good, provided the in- 

 side of the cans is clean and free from 

 rust, the pa-^kage does not give the 

 purchaser a favorable in'pression. 

 Dressing a beautiful woman in ragged, 

 dirty, dowdy clothing would be a 

 parallel case. When the honey is 

 stored in a bright, new, shin3% tin can, 

 cased in a new, clean wooden jacket, 

 then I can send it to market with a 

 feeling of pride and satisfaction, knovv- 

 ingtherewill be no contamination from 

 rust, no leakage, and that a favorable 

 impression will be created in the mind 

 of the purchaser when he receives the 

 hone;'. I don't know as I have ever 

 pu 1 jney into a rusty can, one rusty 

 on » inside, but IMr. R. A. Burnett 

 told ne, when I saw him last, that a 

 spot o rust on the inside of a can would 

 contar. ippt*^ +he whole contents of the 

 can, entirely sp- .!ing thehonej', giving 

 it a taste that tn'ght almost be called 

 "putrid." 



There is one more point of more im- 

 portance, perhaps, than the ones I 

 have mentioned, and that is the danger 

 of foul brood that lurks in everj' second 

 hand ca' More than once in my 

 rounds c.j inspector of apiaries have I 

 found foul brood that had its source in 

 hone3' that came from second hand 

 cans. I will be fair enough to admit 

 that second hand cans ma}' be so 

 treated as to eliminate the danger from 

 foul brood. Thoroughly clean and 

 scald the cans in cold weather when 

 the bees are not flj'ing, and bury all 

 washings. But there is danger of some 

 delay, or some slip. I must also admit 

 that if new cans, filled with honey, 

 were shipped in a car load lot, and 

 emptied without the use of steam or hot 

 water, they might be practically the 

 same as new cans, but the general run 

 of .second hand cans have been used 

 half a dozen times, more or less, and 

 ought to be thrown away. I am done 

 with them. 



Extracting Honey in a Cellar. 



In the last issue of the Review I 

 asked my subscribers to let me know 

 of the advantages and dis"vdvantages 

 of extracting honej' in a cellar, and I 

 have received "a. large number of re- 

 plies. I will give a sufficient number 

 of them to cover the main points. The 

 first letter that came to hand was from 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, and is as follows : — 



Marengo, 111., Dec. 28, 1906. 



Friend Hutchinson, 



You want to hear from some one who 

 has had experience in cellar extract- 

 ing. I'm j'our man. Nearly forgot 

 that I ever extracted honej', didn't 

 you ? Yes, in 1870 I got a Peabod}' 

 extractor, about the onlj' kind then 

 known, and for six or more 3'ears pro- 

 duced extracted honej' exclusively. 

 One 3'ear I extracted a thousand pounds 

 or so out under the apple trees at the 

 Wilson out-apiarv, and, excepting that, 

 I think all m}' extracting during that 

 six or more 3'ears was done in the 

 cellar. 



The coolness of the cellar was a 

 great point in its favor, so far as con- 

 cerned pleasantness of working; and I 

 have no recollection of being in the 

 least discommoded by going alter- 

 natel3' into the hot outer air and the 

 cool cellar. If two men were to be at 

 work, I think each would prefer to 

 work in both places. 



"Any objection ?" I suppose 3'ou 

 don't need to be told that a cellar isn't 

 the best place to keep hone3', and that 

 it isn't best to leave it there more than 

 24 hours, unless it is corked up. I do 

 not now recall an3' other objection, 

 but the fac that hone3' will become 

 thin in a damp cellar has some real 

 advantages. The thin coating of honey 

 left in the extractor ?.fter extracting 

 was alwav's washed otf automatically 

 by the next day (no. ihat never made 

 it rust), and if dark honey were ex- 

 extracted toda3', the extractor would 

 be all clean for light honey to-morrow. 



Another thing I counted much more 

 importa.it. You know that tliemoisture 

 of the atmosphere works only on the 

 surface of the hone}-. Less than a 

 pound of honey distributed over the 

 diflFerent parts of the extractor would 

 in a given time attract more moist- 

 ure than bO pounds in a stone jar, 

 because the stone jar did not present to 

 the air so 'arge a surface. You will 



