PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 9 



tasting do not agree with them. It must be admitted that, for gen- 

 eral sale, the delicate aromas of well-ripened honey are not necessary, 

 since the purchasing public is, as a rule, not educated on this point ; 

 but it certainly pays to produce the very best article possible for the 

 further education of the trade, and, therefore, a thorough ripening 

 inside the hive is very much preferable. To insure this, it is better 

 to tier up the hives rather than extract as soon as a hive body is full. 



On all honeys, after extracting, if allowed to stand in a vessel, 

 a scum will rise to the top, made up of impurities, such as wax, 

 brood, dead bees, and particles of dirt which may get into it. This 

 is particularly the case with honeys which are extracted when not 

 thoroughly ripened. In all cases honey should be strained as it 

 leaves the extractor and subsequently skimmed until no further 

 impurities come to the top. It is frequently the practice to draw 

 honey from the bottom of the tank in which the honey is stored 

 through a " honey gate," so that the impurities do not get into the 

 smaller receptacles in which the honey is to be packed. 



The thorough ripening of honey can not be too strongly recom- 

 mended. Honey attracts moisture, and there is always a tendency 

 for a very thin layer to form on the top in which the water content 

 is very high. In such a film the amount of sugar is low, the acetic- 

 acid-forming bacteria can grow rapidly, and the honey becomes 

 sour. In thoroughly ripened honey it is very probable that a film 

 of thinner honey is always present, but in such a case the sugar con- 

 tent is so high that the bacteria can not grow. 



It is desirable that honeys from different sources be kept separate 

 as far as possible if the product is to be used for the bottling trade. 

 This can be done only by extracting at the close of each honey flow. 

 While it is probably impossible to get a honey from only one 

 species of plant, except under the most unusual circumstances, at 

 the same time honey may generally be removed at the close of each 

 flow, so that the total quantity will have the characteristic flavor im- 

 parted by a single kind of flower. 



THE GBANXTLATI03ST OP HOiNEY. 



Almost all honeys granulate or " candy " after a certain time, and 

 may become solid. This phenomenon varies greatly with different 

 honeys. For example, alfalfa honey produced in Colorado will often 

 granulate solid within a few weeks from the time it is extracted, 

 while the white-sage honey of southern California will often remain 

 liquid and entirely clear of crystal for two years and sometimes 

 longer, if properly put up. The reason for this difference in the 

 time of granulation will be discussed under the heading of " Types of 

 Honey." Honey from the same species of plant varies somewhat in 

 this respect in different localities. 

 78013°— Bull. 75—11 2 



