154 Advanced Bee Culture. 



so easily gotten up for the occasion by mixing. Don't put at the head 

 of the Hst such requirements as: "Honey must be of this season's 

 crop;" or, "must be the product of tlie exhibitor," when there is no 

 way of knowing whether they have been lived up to or not. 



In my experience, one man to award the premiums, and he an ex- 

 pert, has given better satisfaction than three judges. It is difficult and 

 expensive to get three men who are experts, and even then the work is 

 not always done so conscientiously, because it is not so easy to place 

 the responsibility, each being able to shield himself behind the other two. 



There is only one way to judge honey satisfactoril)-, and that is 

 by a scale of points, the same as butter or cheese is judged. One 

 sample may be of good body, but lacking in flavor or in color ; another 

 sample may be of excellent flavor but lacking in body; and the man 

 who attempts to carry all these points in his mind will surely be all 



at sea. 



In judging extracted honey there are three characteristics to be 

 considered: flavor, body and color. Let flavor represent 50 points, 

 body 30 points, and color 20 points in a possible 100 points. Gather 

 the samples in front of you, giving each a number, then decide, by 

 tasting, which has the finest flavor, and give this sample 50 points on 

 flavor. Then decide ^\hich has the next best flavor — possibly 45 points. 

 By continued tasting decide how many points may be assigned to each 

 sample, as compared with the one given 50 points. Deciding in regard 

 to the flavor is really the most difficult point to decide in judging honey. 

 After tasting of different samples of honey, for a while, one seems to 

 lose the power of discrimination to a large extent. Where there are 

 several grades of honey to be judged, and the number of entries large, 

 I have found it advisable to judge of only one grade at a time, then 

 work at something else for an hour or two, when the taste will regain 

 its normal condition to a large degree. I at one time spent two days 

 in awardini;- the premiums at the Toronto Industrial Fair, and the 

 time was largel)' used in deciding in regard to the honey, there being 

 man}' grades and a large number of entries in each grade. 



To decide in regard to the body, take a bottle or jar of honey in 

 each hand, invert the vessels, and note in which the bubble of air rises 

 the slower. Retain this one, and pick up another bottle, and test these 

 two, retaining the one in which the bubble is the slower in rising. 

 Continue in this manner to test all of the samples, and give 30 points 

 to the one having the .■^lowest bubble of all. Then compare each sample 

 with this one as a standard, giving each the appropriate number of 

 points, as compared with the best. 



The decision in regard to color is made in a manner similar to 

 that of deciding the points of body or flavor. Select the sample having 



