=How to Secure the Harvest of the Hive=--(_Cont._)
=Extracting Honey.=--The use of an extractor is a necessity to the
bee-keeper who is working for profit, for chief among its advantages is
that the honey can be separated from the combs without breaking them.
_Uncapping._--When uncapping the cells, care should be taken to collect
all the cappings in a tray or basket as they are removed, and they
should be melted down as soon as possible after the extracting is
completed.
_Working the Extractor._--The side of the comb which contains most
honey should be dealt with first, and in placing the frame in the
extractor it should be seen that the bottom bar faces the direction in
which the spindle revolves. The cells of the comb are usually built on
an angle, and the honey will be thrown out of them quicker in this way
than if they were placed to catch the air.
Great care is needed when extracting honey from new combs, for they are
exceedingly brittle. It is generally advisable, therefore, to turn the
handle very slowly at first, and, unless it runs very freely, not to
extract all the honey from a comb at the first operation. By partially
emptying the one side and then reversing the comb the pressure on it is
relieved gradually and the risk of breakage avoided. When the greater
part of the honey has been extracted, the speed of the revolutions of
the cages can be increased without any danger to the combs.
All honey should be extracted from the combs as soon as possible after
they are taken from the hive, for it will run more freely then than
after it has been allowed to stand and thicken, while its flavour will
be better retained.
When a large amount of honey has to be extracted, the cleanest combs
with the lightest honey should first be dealt with, and before the
darker honey is taken the other should be run through the strainer and
put to ripen, so that each kind shall be kept absolutely separate.
=Ripening Honey.=--After extraction, the honey should be placed in
a suitable vessel in a warm room to ripen. After it has stood for
a few days the surface will be seen to be covered with a white
scum--particles of wax and pollen--which should be removed as it forms.
The honey immediately below is thin and watery. This is due to the
proportion of water it contains, and measures must be taken to get rid
of this by evaporation, or it will spoil the keeping property of the
whole. To seal up any of this thin honey is to ensure fermentation and
disaster.
The very best vessels in which to ripen honey are the large earthenware
cream pots that are glazed inside. Being to a certain extent porous
they allow for the evaporation of excessive moisture. They are, too,
easy to clean and free from any possibility of metallic influence on
the honey.
=Straining Honey.=--Strainers may be made of many variable materials
from wire to muslin, according to the preference of the bee-keeper.
Personally I have found that the most serviceable and effectual
strainer material is soft linen cheese-cloth, and I would recommend
that a good supply of it, ranging from coarse to fine in quality,
should be kept by every apiarist for straining purposes, when broken
comb has become mixed with the honey.
When the operation is necessary and a considerable quantity of comb has
to be removed, the following method will be found to be both simple
and effectual:
A piece of coarse cheese-cloth, about four feet long, with the ends
gathered and tied, should be held by two persons. The honey is poured
into the middle of the cloth, under which is the vessel into which
the honey is to drain. As the thin honey escapes, the cloth should be
gently raised and lowered alternately at each end. This movement causes
the comb and wax to move first in one direction and then the other and
accumulate into a ball which constantly gathers up the particles of wax
that in the ordinary way clog the strainer. By its weight and movement,
too, it forces the honey through the cloth.
The old-fashioned strainers made from cheese-cloth in the shape of a
fool's cap were effectual, but slower in their action than the method
I have described. They had the advantage, of course, that they could
be left to perform their work while other matters were attended to--an
advantage to a cottage bee-keeper. They were made by cutting a piece of
cheese-cloth square and sewing up the cross-cut to about three parts
of its length, with one of the sides from the corner where they meet.
After the seam had been run, the edge of the cloth was turned over and
hemmed to prevent the escape of any particles of wax with the honey.
_To Strain Dense Honey._--Most bee-keepers have had experience of the
difficulty of straining dense honey, and most of them are agreed that
the old-fashioned method of squeezing it through a strainer is far from
satisfactory. It is a tedious, messy process, calculated to try the
patience and temper of the mildest of men.
The alternative method, though not perfect, is, in my opinion, far
preferable. This is of heating the honey by the water-jacket principle
to reduce its density. The great point in it, of course, is to apply
just sufficient heat to affect the honey without melting the wax. Great
care is needed in this respect, for if the wax melts and mixes with the
honey straining is hopeless and the sale spoilt.
When dealing with small quantities the vessel of honey can be placed
in a pan of boiling water on the fire. For larger quantities the
extractor, or a large milk-can--provided it be not galvanised--may be
used, and suspended over or in a copper full of boiling water. It is
advisable, however, not to heat more than three inches of honey at
one rime, for there is the liability of having the honey nearest the
side of the vessel hotter sooner than that in the centre. This may
be obviated to a degree by stirring it while it is heating. To avoid
altogether the risk of overheating it is better first to warm the honey
sufficiently for it to pass through a coarse strainer and then repeat
the operation through a finer one.
=Storing and Bottling Honey.=--It is far better to keep honey in bulk
than to store it in small bottles or jars, for there is no question
that the flavour is thereby retained to a greater degree. It should be
stored in a perfectly dry place, for it has the property of absorbing
moisture. Especially is this shown in connection with sections, for
they generally contain a few cells that are only partially filled or
imperfectly sealed.
=Marketing Honey.=--In dispatching honey it will be found that the tin
vessels supplied by the appliance makers are the most convenient, for
they are light, and, if properly packed in a box or crate, are not very
liable to damage. The bee-keeper who lives any distance from the market
will find it more profitable to sell his honey in bulk rather than to
bottle it for sale, for, after buying bottles, allowing for carriage
and breakages, the small apparent advantage vanishes.
Sections should be graded according to the colour of the honey and
weight of the combs. Attractive cases may be obtained in which to place
them, but before being put therein the sections must, of course, be
cleaned of all odd pieces of wax and propolis that are generally found
adhering to them when taken from the hive.
=Bees-Wax.=--Bees-wax is one of the byproducts and has a certain
commercial value for the bee-keeper. All pieces of wax, however small,
comb and foundation, should be carefully preserved, and never wasted.
They should be stored in an air-tight tin box, to secure them against
the attentions of the wax-moth until such time as they can be melted
down. Only comb of a very dark colour, or such as has the cells thickly
coated with linings of cocoons, are not worth retaining and should be
burnt forthwith.
Before melting the wax, it should be sorted approximately into light
and dark varieties, and each melted separately. Combs from the
brood-nest should also be treated separately owing to the additional
straining required by the wax obtained from that source. Wax
extractors are made in many forms by various makers, but for ordinary
use nothing excels the common earthenware jam or preserve jars,
provided they are sound and free from cracks. Water should be added to
the wax before it is treated, or it will burn in the jar.
Dark wax is saleable to tailors, and the lighter quality to
manufacturers of foundation.