io6 Advanced Bcc Culture 



as no space has to be used for the strainer-tub. We have always used an 

 ordinary galvanized wash-tub, with a honey-gate in one side near the 

 bottom, and the top covered with cheese-cloth sewed to a wire hoop 

 slightly larger than the top of the tub. We have several of these 

 cheese-cloth strainers ; and when one becomes so filled up or covered 

 with pieces of wax that it strains slowly wc remove it and lay it over 

 another tub, or a barrel of cappings, until the honey has all drained 

 through, when the accumulation of cappings and thick hone)- is scraped 

 off with the honey-knife. I have been told that it would be better to 

 have the cloth strainer more in the nature of a sack, nearly large enough 

 to fill the tub and rest upon its bottom ; then the sides of the sack would 

 remain free from cappings ; and act as a strainer without becoming 

 clogged. In a horizontal strainer, such as we have been using, the 

 trouble is that the cappings settle upon the strainer and soon clog it, 

 while the sides of a sack, being perpendicular, remain free from cap- 

 pings, and do not clog in a long time. 



After the honey has been thoroughl}- ripened, is extracted, and 

 found to be in possession of all the fine qualities I have mentioned, 

 what shall be done with it? How shall it be treated that it may retain 

 its flavor? The key to success in this direction is exclusion of the air. 

 Seal it up in glass jars or tin cans, or in clean barrels; and the sooner 

 this is done (after the particles of wax and scum have raised to the 

 top) the less the escape of aroma. My preference is a round jacketed 

 tin can with a flat top and a large screw-cap in the top. A five-gallon 

 can of this kind, holding 60 pounds of honey, can be bought for about 

 thirty cents. This style of package can be rolled on the floor. A barrel 

 is really the cheapest package for storing or shipping honey; and when 

 we know that honey is to be shipped to some manufactory, there is no 

 objection to the use of barrels if they are well made. 



Upon the approach of cool weather, most honey will candv ; and, 

 if sealed up tight and put away in a cool place, it will remain in that 

 condition for years; and when brought slowly and carefully back to its 

 liquid state it will be found to have retained its original "flavor, aroma, 

 and bouquet." Too much stress can not be placed upon the care 

 necessary in liquefying candied honey. Man)- think if honey does not 

 boil it can not be injured. The temperature of boiling water will ruin 

 the flavor of honey. When a can of candied honey is placed over a 

 stove, or in any other hot place, the outside of the cake of honey soon 

 melts, and this ma\- become very hot before the rest of the cake has 

 dissolved. In a tank of hot water is the best place to liquefy a can 

 of honey; but the temperature should never go above 160 or 170 

 degrees ; and, by the wa)', when melting the honey, don't loosen the 

 screw-cap and leave it open, as it only allows the escape of the aroma. 



