STRAINING THE HONEY 189 
Most bee-keepers make a practice of extracting several times 
during the season, thus requiring less equipment and keeping 
honey from the different sources separate. 
If one sells in a wholesale market, it is important to keep 
the light honey from clover and basswood separate from the dark, 
fall honey, such as buckwheat, golden rod, ete. It is better to 
extract after every flow as far as can be done, so as to keep the 
different kinds as nearly separate as possible. 
If, on the other hand, the bee-keeper has a retail trade of his 
own and blends his product anyway, there is no special impor- 
tance in keeping the honey separate, unless something might be 
brought in so poor in quality as to injure his crop. In many 
localities in the Southern States, there is a bitter weed that 
blooms in midsummer which secretes nectar from which honey 
that is too bitter to be eaten is stored. Where any plant of this 
kind is to be dealt with, it is important to remove all surplus 
from the hive as soon as it begins to bloom, to avoid having good 
honey mixed with it. A very little of this honey will spoil a 
whole crop, so that it cannot be sold to advantage. 
Straining the Honey.—With the greatest care there will be 
bits of wax and other refuse thrown off in the extractor, which 
must be removed from the honey before it is ready for market. 
If deep settling tanks are used, this surplus matter will soon rise 
to the top, where it can be skimmed off, or the honey can be 
drawn from the bottom of the can where it is clear. By this plan 
there always remains a quantity of honey at the last that is not 
ready for market until it is strained. 
Various contrivances are in use for the purpose of straining 
the honey as it goes into the settling tank. Thin cotton cloth is 
most often used as a strainer. A large surface is necessary to 
prevent the cloth from clogging, when it must be cleaned or a new 
one used in place of it. If the cloth alone is used, the weight 
of the honey will often result in pulling it loose at one side, when 
the whole of the contents will run into the receptacle below. A 
coarse screen of about one-fourth inch mesh is good to furnish 
