Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-07-11
8os 9uetIts ajtrala.
(From the Evening Express.)
IntsrsrsstinE Facts About Honey


EDITOR ExPREss:-Allow me,
through your valuable paper, to
correct q common mistake, In rel
gard to honey, which exists in the
public mind, simply because facts
are not generally known.
Before the introduction of the
honey-extractor. all liquid honey
was strained, the process of which,
In this part Of the country, was
cemmonIy as follows: The surplus
honey stored In the top of the bee
hive, was cut out and dumped into
= reservoir (now generally known
~ = sun-strainer) provided with
sun would melt the honey comb,
and the liquid honey ran through
pipe into tank or maiu reser-
voir, while the bees-wax would col.
lect into cake in the bottom of the
sun-strainer, to be cut out and re-
melted for the market. In this
way the honey was unavoidably
mixed with bee bread (the pollen Of
the fiowers) an article Of not very
pleasant taste to man, even ii it is
90 to the bee, besides dead bees and
brood. The honey naturally
assumed some of the flavor of these
Ingredients, while IL lost some Of
Its own flavor and changed to
darker shade Of color by being ex.
posed to the heat.
In the beginning of 1871 my at
tention was drawn to the honey
extractor, machine advertised in
Eastern papers, and just then
coming into use. / obtained one,
and was probably the first person
in Southern California to take the
honey In this way. Since then all
the principal beekeepers here have
adopted the honey extractor. The
honey comb, being built in frames
like those in the main hive, after
having been removed from the up
per part of the hive is carried to
the h0ney.house, where 1t Is un.
capped, or the covering removed
with a knife from the mouth of the
cells. The comb is then placed in
the extractor, very simple ma
chine. which by centrifugal force
throws the honey out of the cells.
The honey Is then removed to the
tank, which generally is supplied
with q strainer to exclude bees and
flies, and after standing a short
time the scum and such diminutive
particles of the comb, as are broken
of In extracting, rise to the surface
to be skinned off, while the pure,
clean honey is drawn off from the
bottom of the tank. This honey is
virtually pure virgin honey, so
much priced in ancient times,
being removed from the comb in
cold state, but by quicker method
than of old and being unpolluted by
bee bread, dead bees and brood. 1t
Is this difference between strained
and extracted honey, to which l
desire TO draw the attention of the
public, and / now mark all my ex.
tracted honey as such. The honey
comb, after being emptied in the
extractor, Is returned to the hive,
to be refilled by the bees. The sun
strainer is now only used for con.
vtrting the cappings of the honey
comb into beeswax, and what little
honey adhering to the cappings,
is obtained in this way, should
either be retained at the apairy, to
be fed to weak swarms in the
Spring, or II sold at all, should be
30 with the clear understanding
that 1t is really strained honey,
and an inferior article after all.
l would earnestly advice bee
keepers not to extract their honey
until 1t is fully or nearly all capped
over, as it is only proper at that
stage. 1t is much easier to throw
the honey out of the comb before
II is capped over, than after. not
only becaus it saves the laborious
work of uncapping, but also be-
cause the honey is thin and watery,
and not until it has been evap-
grated by the bees to the proper
consisteEcy, the sign of which is,
tHssit Ia capped over, it is good.
ripe honey, pleasant and safe to eat
under all circumstances. 1t is a
fact, well known among bee-keep-
ers in the Eastern States, that un.
capped honey will produce disease
among the bees confined to such
food during the long Winter, just
as unripe fruit or half-baked bread
would among human beings; and
also, that honey, which is extract
ed before being ripe, is very apt to
sour, thus bringing its own penalty
for throwing on the market an in
ferior article, easily obtained, in
stead of really good article, for
~ fny Il 4
which will give satisfaction to the
consumer.
There is a prevailing idea that
candied or granulated honey is in
ferior to liquid honey. This is se-
rIous mistake, the facts of which
ought to be more generally known.
Nearly all pure honey will granu.
late in course OF time,-that from
certain flowers having tendency
to granulate quicker than that from
Others. Exposure to cold temper
ature Is another cause of this
change. 1t is a sure test, that the
honey is pure. Manufactured or
adulterated honey cannot be
brought to granulate. In France
honey cannot be sold except in this
state, as the public are conversant
with the fact and know. that as
such they are buying pure honey,
and not an adulterated article. If
honey graduates. it is very simple
To return 1t to its liquid state. Place
the vessel containing the honey In
. kettle or boiler of water; bring
this TO the boiling point, and be-
fore long the honey will become as
liquid as when first taken from the
hive, without losing any Of its
original flavor or taste. The
honey vessel should have small
opening, sufficient 10 let the air
out, to prevent the expansion Of
the air and honey from bursting it.
BV liuuifvfug q little at the time