II. THE EIPENING AND MATUEING OF HONEY- 



All honey should be thoroughly ripened and matured before being 

 placed upon the market; otherwise it will rapidly deteriorate, to the 

 injury of the producer and the industry generally. All beekeepers are 

 fully aware of and admit this; nevertheless, occasionally unripe honey 

 finds its way to the markets, eventually to be condemned through fer- 

 mentation. In the absence, however, of any reliable method for deciding 

 when honey is ripe, beekeepers are not wholly blamable for being mistaken 

 on this point. 



AMOUNT OF MOISTURE IN HONEY. 



Nectar or honey when first gathered contains a variable quantity of 

 water, usually ranging from 18 to 23 per cent., according to the weather. 

 Mr. Otto Hehner, F.I.C., F.C.S., public analyst, and analyst to the 

 British Beekeepers' Association, in a lecture before that body some years 

 ago stated, " Essentially, honey consists of water and of sugar. Of the 

 water I need say but little except that I have found it to vary in quantity 

 from 12 to 23 per cent., the normal proportion being from 18 to 21 per 

 cent. When the percentage falls below 18 the honey is generally very 

 hard and solid; when it is higher than 21 it is frequently quite or almost 

 clear." 



In Thorpe's " Dictionary of Applied Chemistry," page 286, the 

 maximum, minimum, and average amount of moisture in twenty-five 

 samples of honey examined are given as follows : Maximum, 23"26 per 

 cent.; minimum, 12'43 per cent.; and the average of the twenty-five, 

 19'3 per cent. 



Honey containing an excess of moisture is unripe and bound sooner 

 or later to ferment, but when such moisture is reduced below a certain 

 percentage the honey is said to be ripe, and it will in that condition 

 keep good for any length of time. There is in the Agricultural Museum 

 at Wellington a sample over sixteen years old, in splendid condition. At 

 what point the " excess " of moisture commences we have no definite 

 knowledge. The difierent works available contain no guidance on the 

 question. 



•It is extraordinary that, considering the importance of the subject 

 the ripening and maturing of honey has never been discussed in bee 

 literature— at any rate, in the best that has appeared for over thirty 

 years. We have had volumes of vague statements and assertions by 

 correspondents in the various bee journals, but nothing of value. 



