_To the Editor of the Scientific American_:
Seeing in your issue of October 13, 1883, an article on "Crystallization
in Extracted Honey," I beg leave to differ a little with the gentleman.
I have handled honey as an apiarist and dealer for ten years, and find
by actual experience that it has no tendency to crystallize in warm
weather; but on the contrary it will crystallize in cold weather,
and the colder the weather the harder the honey will get. I have had
colonies of bees starve when there was plenty of honey in the hives; it
was in extreme cold weather, there was not enough animal heat in the
bees to keep the honey from solidifying, hence the starvation of the
colonies.
To-day I removed with a thin paddle sixty pounds of honey from a large
stone jar where it had remained over one year. Last winter it was so
solid from crystallization, it could not be cut with a knife; in fact, I
broke a large, heavy knife in attempting to remove a small quantity.
As to honey becoming worthless from candying is a new idea to me, as I
have, whenever I wanted our crystallized honey in liquid form, treated
it to water bath, thereby bringing it to its natural state, in which
condition it would remain for an indefinite time, especially if
hermetically sealed. I never had any recrystallize after once having
been treated to the water bath; and the flavor of the honey was in no
way injured. I think the adding of glycerine to be entirely superfluous.