CHAPTER XVI 



THE PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED-HONEY 



Before the invention of the honey extractor in 1865, 

 honey was removed from the comb either by crushing it and 

 draining off the honey or by melting it, allowing the whole 

 to cool, leaving the wax on top. By these methods strained 

 honey is produced, an article greatly inferior to modern 

 extracted-honey. In extracting honey, the cappings of the 

 honey cells of the comb are first removed with a hot knife, 

 the comb is put into an extractor and is then whirled, the 

 honey being removed from the cells by centrifugal force. 



Increase in the production of extracted-honey. 



The demand for extracted-honey is increasing, and it is 

 estimated for the United States that, whereas 34.9 per cent 

 of the honey produced in 1909 was extracted, in 1914 this had 

 increased to 42.1 per cent. This estimate of the increase is 

 conservative, and among professional beekeepers the increase 

 in this period is doubtless greater. This is partly due to the 

 demand for honey from bakers and confectioners, but a po- 

 tent influence is the increased confidence of the consuming 

 public that the extracted-honey on the market is not adul- 

 terated. For this confidence, the beekeeper is indebted to 

 the enforcement of the numerous pure food laws. Bee- 

 keepers have consistently fought adulteration and have 

 welcomed the enforcement of these laws in protecting them 

 from the competition of unscrupulous jobbers who were 

 formerly guilty of adding inferior syrups to extracted-honey. 



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