BOTTLING HONEY 
129 
ai’e on the same level, all the better. The 
pan should be just about the depth of an 
ordinary Mason jar, or, rather, a little 
deeper than the deepest package to be used. 
A false bottom of coarse wire cloth should 
be secured about half an inch above the 
bottom proper by means of proper stays. 
This is for the purpose of providing a cir¬ 
culation of water under the bottoms of the 
bottles, for otherwise they might break 
from the direct heat of the stove. Fill the 
pan about half-full of Avater, and set it 
on the sto\ T e. 
Instead of using a gasoline stove to lieat the wa¬ 
ter in the tray, %-inch steam pipes, connected 
as in the manner shown, can he used. The outside 
pipes should he perforated with holes that blow a 
jet of steam transversely across the bottom of the 
pan. The coil of steam pipes below serves no pur¬ 
pose but to keep the large filling tank of honey 
warm. 
When the Avater registers about 180 ac¬ 
cording to the thermometer, set the bottles 
of cold honey into the tray, on the false 
bottom of Avire cloth. When the pan is full 
of bottles placed close together, the Avater 
should be raised within an inch of the 
top of the bottles. Let them stand in the 
hot water until the honey in one of the 
bottles registers about 160. They may now 
be taken out and corked or sealed. A fresh 
supply of filled bottles of honey should 
next be put back to replace the fh’st, and 
the operation of heating and sealing can 
be continued indefinitely. 
There are several advantages of this 
method, aside from the one of first cost for 
apparatus; viz.: 
1. One can fill a small order at any time, 
and it is not necessary to heat a great bulk 
of honey in order to put up a dozen bottles 
or so of honey. In heating a large quantity 
of honey one necessarily has to keep it hot 
for a considerable time. The longer the 
honey is kept hot, the greater the liability 
lo discolor and impair its flavor. 
2. Bottles that are submerged in hot 
Avater can be easily wiped off with a cloth; 
and as soon as they are corked or sealed 
they are ready for labeling. 
3. Any honey that has been poured from 
a honey-gate into the vessels cold will haA’e 
a tendency to collect air bubbles, and form 
a froth on the top of the honey. When the 
honey is heated gradually in the bottles 
after filling, the process expels the bub¬ 
bles; and by the time the honey is clear 
it is ready for sealing and labeling. 
4. If any honey should candy, one can 
unseal, and set the bottles in the tray of 
hot water, and reheat and seal without 
emptying. 
Honey bottled in this Avay will retain 
more of the original flavor than Avhen it is 
heated in bulk and then bottled. 
Where one has a little larger trade, and 
takes care of one or two towns outside of 
his OAvn community, the foregoing Avill be 
a little too sIoav; and, besides, it has the 
decided disadvantage that honey bottled in 
this Avay Avill granulate more quickly 
than honey heated in bulk and kept hot for 
a considerable length of time. A large 
quantity of honey in a tank can be kept hot 
for five or six hours at a temperature of 
130 degrees Fahr. This low temperature 
long continued Avill keep honey in a liquid 
condition longer than a higher temperature 
for a shorter period. But, as already 
stated, a long-hot honey Avill not have 
'quite as fine a flavor as the quicker-heated 
and quickly cooled article. But this dif¬ 
ference will he noted, not by the ordinary 
consumer, but by the bottler or honey con¬ 
noisseur. 
Chalon Fowls of Oberlin, 0., has used 
a method of bottling that requires but A'ery 
little outlay for apparatus, and is quite 
inexpensive. Outside of two large cans 
and a filling tank he utilizes only Avliat can 
be found in the ordinary home. 
He makes use of a gasoline stove and a 
couple of large cans Avhich he puts on each 
of the top burners. These are partially 
filled with water, then a square can of 
honey is let down in each until it is com¬ 
pletely submerged. After the contents are 
all melted, a thermometer is let down, as 
