ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



77 



thousand pounds of honey, I can sell 

 it in the locality in which I live, be- 

 cause people are satisfied it is going 

 to be pure honey, just as the bees 

 stored it, and even if I were so inclined, 

 they know I dare not put anything on 

 the market except absolutely pure 

 honey. There is no danger in an over- 

 production of honey at all. 



Mr. Winter — Last year, at this time, 

 the commission men here in Chicago 

 paid about 13 cents a pound for comb 

 honey, and in the last papers I got I 

 noticed that they paid from 16 to 16% 

 cents; there is 3 to 3% cents difference 

 per pound more on comb honey. What 

 caused that? I took it that there was 

 a less supply, but on extracted honey, 

 is it not pretty nearly the same as the 

 <juotations a year ago? 



Dr. Bohrer — Would not the increase 

 in demand have the same effect? 



Mr. Winter — Yes. 



Closing Up Extracted Honey. 



"Is it wise to close extracted honey 

 up tight, right after it is extracted?" 



Mr. Lathrop — After it is extracted, I 

 let it settle, and after I consider it has 

 had time to settle, I draw it off ana 

 seal it up tight. I don't think that 

 there is anything wrong about that — 

 not with me 



Mr. Thompson — I would like to ask 

 what there is that requires time for it 

 to settle — about the time it has to set- 

 tle. 



Mr. Lathrop — If you pour honey into 

 a barrel as it comes from the extrac- 

 tor, it will carry with it small particles, 

 and if you l«ave it in a storage tank 

 a couple of days, this will all be at the 

 top and you can skim it off; you don't 

 need to take it off, necessarily, but draw 

 the honey from the bottom; and as 

 soon as I draw it off, and put it in 

 small packages, I seal it up tight. I 

 would just as soon do that the very 

 day it is extracted, unless just for the 

 purpose of getting the honey a little 

 clearer by settling. 



rxr. Miller — I would like to ask Mr. 

 Lathrop if he does not think the tem- 

 perature of the honey has a little to do 

 with the time. If it is quite warm, 

 won't it settle quicker than if it is 

 cool? 



Mr. Lathrop — I think it would. 



Mr. Kannenberg — My experience has 

 taught me that if you extract honey 

 and close it up tight right after you 

 have extracted it, it will turn sour. I 



think, for that reason, it is wise to 

 leave the honey settle before you close 

 it up tight. If I closed it up tight 

 right away, I found I got sour honey 

 after it granulated; and if I wanted to 

 dissolve it again, it would sour. 



L. C. Dadant — If honey is taken off 

 when it is ripe, you can close it up 

 immediately, and put it right in bar- 

 rels; but be sure the honey is ripe; if 

 not, it will have to stand. 



Mr. Kannenberg — I know my honey 

 was ripe, because I left it on the hive 

 until there was no more honey coming 

 in, and I am sure the bees ripened it, 

 it was so thick. I left it a little too 

 long to get it extracted. When I did 

 get at it, it was hard to get out of the 

 combs; I know that honey was as ripe 

 as any honey. 



Mr. Cavanagh — From what source 

 was that honey? And was it in damp 

 weather? It makes a difference 

 whether the honey should be sealed up 

 or not, and what the source is. 



Mr. Kannenberg — The honey was 

 mixed, from sweet clover and white 

 clover, and some other kind of flowers. 

 I know it was mixed. : 



Mr. Baxter — My experience has been, 

 during the last thirty years, that I ex- 

 tract my honey when it is thoroughly 

 ripe, and never before. I put it in 

 barrels right in the apairy; I bung it 

 up tight, and leave it that way until I 

 want to use it. I draw it out in 60- 

 pound cans any time before it has can- 

 died; in that way I have perfectly clear 

 honey; instead of settling, it rises. 

 What I draw out is perfectly clear. All 

 that time I never had any trouble w^ith 

 sour honey. Once in a while you "wlU 

 have honey that will be of a sour fla- 

 vor, no matter how ripe it is when it 

 is extracted ; it is because of the source 

 or flower from which it is gathered; 

 that occurs very rarely, and usually in 

 the fall. You can bung up perfectly 

 ripe extracted honey and leave it there 

 for years, and it will be the same in 

 ten years after as when you put it in. 



Mr. Macklin— ^Last year I had quite 

 a crop of extracted honey; I sealed it 

 up in cans and barrels at once; it has 

 not been touched or looked at until this 

 fall. I melted it up, and every bit of 

 it is in good shape; not a particle of it 

 soured. It was left on the hives until 

 it was ripe, except the unflnished sec- 

 tions. 



Dr. Bohrer — ^Did you have more, or 



