Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-08-20
EXTRACTING HONEY.
Treatment of Unripe Honey Advised by
c. +. Dadant.


c. +. Dadant.
Following are extracts from letter
written to The America Bee journal
by well known Illinois bee man on
topic of common interest to beekeep-
ers Mr.. Dadant writes:
The fact that bees are Gaping a
comb of honey does not mean that the
honey is sufficiently ripe. 1 have often
seen honey work, or ferment, in such a
way as to burst the Gaping of the
comb. This happens more especially in
hot and damp summers, when it is very
difficult for the honey to ripen, owing
to the damrness Of the atmosphere. In
an ordinary season honey may be con-
sidered sufficiently ripened when it has
been on the hive for week or more.
The greatest trouble with unripe honey
comes from that which is daily added
to an unfinished super by the bees.
During the first two or three days after
it is harvested clover or Eastwood honey
is usually so thin as to shake out of the
combs very readily, or even TO drip out,
if the comb is urtuned. Such honey
will not do TO extract, unless it is after
ward ripen,d artificially.
Messrs. Muth & Son Of Ohio, who
handle hundreds of barrels Of honey ev-
cry YEAR, tel Us that they ripen their
honey by keeping it III open vessels,
after cXtractIg, in Il warm and dry
room. THUS it is quite likely that if
the suLors a1e taken Of and placed
where they can have air ard warmth
the honey viii thiClcu ard LeCCmo
ripe, but we prefer to leave such supers
on the hive, even if we have to tier up
TO such an extent that it would become
necessary to prop up the hive with
stakes or braces. Not only would the
bees ripen this honey faster than can be
done artifcially, but there would be al
so the advantage Of the super furnishing
them additional space for honey as fast
as the quantity is lcssened by evapora-
tion. Consequently we would not start
extracting until there was absolutely nc
room left for the bees to store honey, o.
so little that further delay would be
likely to induce them to swarm,
There are several reasons why the
bees work better in an empty super
than in full one-that is, provided the
combs are already built. The hive be.
ing less crowded, they find the place tC
deposit their load much more readily
and thus lose less time in hunting fol
empty cells. Then there is no need Of
building additional combs or Whitening
or stre tching the combs already built
But when one super is full and the 9th
er only one story above it there is but
little time lost, and we believe it is {
mistake to remove either before they are
we'll filled unless more may be procured
or unless the crop is at an end
When the crop is ended, it takes bu
q very short time for the last honey
/ harvested to mature, and we make it
point to Legin the extracting just a
soon as the harvest ceases. There ar,
seasons, however, like the present one
when the honey flow is so strong anC
so continuous that the bees get over
crowded and the supers are all filleC
long before the end Of the crop TIL,
only remedy fer such state Of things il
to take the chances Of a little unrip,
honey and relieve the hive Of its loat
before any time is lost by the bees O
before swarming preparations are made
When there is any doubt, however, a
to the ripeness Of the honey, it is wei
to follow the Muth method and keep i
in open vessels in hot, dry place for
few weeks before attempting to put j
on the market.