510 



HONEY HANDLING. 



Sweating takes place in comb-honey which has been sealed 

 by the bees before it was fully ripened or evaporated (744), 

 during a plentiful honey harvest. The changes of tempera- 

 ture in Spring and Summer cause a certain amount of fer- 

 mentation in it, exactly as in the housekeepers' sealed pre- 

 serves, when not sufficiently heated or sweetened. The result 

 is a bursting of the eappings, by the pressure of the expand- 

 ing honey, which runs out and over the comb and renders it 

 unsalable. The same expansion sometimes takes place in 



Fig. 222. 



NON-DBIP FOSTER CASE. 



granulated extracted honey, accompanied by a slight fermen- 

 tation. 



837. It is also held, by some leading Apiarists, that the 

 cells, although sealed, are not moisture-proof, and that comb- 

 honey gathers water from the air, till it overfills the cell and 

 escapes through its pores. Tor this reason they keep their 

 comb-honey in a warm dry room. This is a good thing to do 

 in every case. Honey is hygrometric, and whenever exposed, 

 gathers moisture rapidly, so that when kept in a damp place, 



