COMB HONEY, TO PRODUCE 
248 
eiple of the Aikin separator. The large 
cut shows the whole melter', separator, etc. 
At the end of the day, or when the work is 
finished, the honey should be drawn off as 
close as possible to the wax, so that the 
smallest amount will be left to cool with it. 
The reason for this is that any honey is 
given a slightly waxy flavor if allowed to 
cool under wax. As soon as the honey is 
drawn off, and while it is still warm, it 
should be strained thru a cheese cloth, so 
that it will be ready for market. 
HOW TO KEEP COMP, HONEY AND AT THE 
SAME TIME PREVENT IT FROM 
GRANULATING. 
It is sometimes desirable to keep comb 
honey for a better market, or hold it for a 
reserve supply the year round. To keep 
it with unimpaired flavor it must not be 
subjected to dampness. Jf Avater con¬ 
denses on the surface of the comb, the 
honey is soon diluted, and then it sours. 
On this account the honey should never be 
put into a cellar or other damp room. It 
should be kept in a warm dry room; and 
that there may be a free circulation of air, 
without admitting bees or flies, the win¬ 
dows should be covered with painted wire 
cloth. The publishers are accustomed to 
keep comb honey the year round, and 
rarely does it deteriorate in the least. The 
same plan will, in the main, apply to keep¬ 
ing extracted honey. During damp and 
rainy weather, the doors and windows of 
the honey-room or honey-house should be 
closed and opened again when the air is 
dry. 
Comb honey should under no circum¬ 
stances be stored where it is likely to 
freeze, as freezing contracts the wax so as 
to break the combs and let the honey run. 
It should be kept as nearly as possible 
between 80 and 90 degrees F., not be ex¬ 
posed to rapid changes in temperature at 
any time; and it should never go be¬ 
low 70, if it is possible to avoid it. Varia¬ 
tions of temperature have a strong tend¬ 
ency to make honey granulate; and noth¬ 
ing ruins comb honey quicker than this. 
Perhaps one in a small way might be 
able to keep a room hot by the use of a 
hard-coal stove, from which a regular heat 
will be given off; but this would be expen¬ 
sive, and make the honey cost too much. 
In some instances one might store the 
honey in the cellar near the furnace. This 
would give a uniform heat night and day. 
After the furnace goes out for the winter 
the honey should be moved to where it is 
dry. 
THE TEMPERATURE TO ARREST GRANULATION 
AFTER IT BEGINS. 
The publishers of this work made some 
experiments to see how hot they could keep 
the room and not have the combs melt 
down. They found that the temperature 
must not go higher than 103° F. While 
this may seem excessively high, yet, if the 
honey begins to granulate the only way to 
arrest the process is to bring the tempera¬ 
ture up to 103°, and maintain it there. 
But there is the difficulty. They accom¬ 
plished it by putting steam coils in the 
room with sufficient radiation so that the 
temperature could be held between 101° 
and 103°. If it goes above the high point, 
an automatic regulator, something on the 
plan of an incubator-valve, allows the heat 
to escape. As the temperature drops, this 
valve closes. 
They kept some 2000 lbs. of honey in 
this room for two months. Some of the 
honey had already begun to granulate, and 
it was their hope that they could not only 
arrest the granulation but bring the gran¬ 
ulation back to a liquid condition. In this 
last they were disappointed, but they suc¬ 
ceeded admirably in stopping the process 
that would have soon ruined this whole lot 
of honey. 
They are not sure but a temperature of 
100° F. might do as well, and possibly such 
a degree would be safer for the average 
person to use, because, if the thermometer 
shows higher than 103°, there is great dan¬ 
ger that the combs will be overheated, sag, 
and set the honey to leaking. It should be 
stated that a temperature of 100° F., while 
it will stop granulation will cause the 
honey to become very thick and waxy. 
This is objectionable to some of the trade. 
COMBS.- —Under Honeycomb, further 
on, comb is discussed as a container to hold 
the honey gathered by the bees, its general 
structure, how the bees build it without 
artificial aid, and the so-called artificial 
comb, which does not exist, and never did. 
Under Comb Foundation is described par- 
