Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1906-11-23
LIGHT vs. DARK HONEY.
The Flavor OF the Latter 10 Preferred
BY Sons.

While those Of cultivated taste. who
are wonted to the very best that the
culinary art can give us, much prefer
and praise only the lighter grades Of
honey, like that from Eastwood.
clover, alfalfa, white and black sage
and the mesquite. yet there are others
AND have known not few such
who prefer and always select the dark
honey when they can get It, says Prof.
A. J. Cook. In California Cultivator.
Such people prefer the favor which is
always present in the darker grades
OF honey. have one friend, a college
professor and long a colleague, who
always preferred buckwheat honey.
and laid In his supply in the late fall
when ne could get this kind. While
was glad to supply him this, always
laughed at him and expressed surprise
at his taste. The golden rod honey
and other honey from the autumn wild
flowers in the east, though not quite
as dark as that from the buckwheat,
are highly colored and somewhat pun.
gent In flavor. Here belongs the am.
Der honey Of our wild buckwheat Of
California. While mosttwill prefer the
white grades Of honey and others who
VIII prefer honey of the darkest hue.
like buckwheat, the wideawake bee
Keeper will be on the sharpest lookout
Tor customers, especially Of these lat
ter classes, for thus he may gain a
market for all kinds of honey at good
prices. If a person thinks that buck.
wheat honey Is the best, or if he pre-
fers the amber-colored honeys, he will
make no objection to paying the best
market price for honeys Of these
grades. The friend | referred to above
never objected to giving me a first.
class price for buckwheat honey. In
deed, it would hardly be consistent to
claim that honey is first-class or of
the best quality and yet request that
lower price be asked for it.
Another point of interest In this re.
lation has to do with the grading of
honey. The upto-date beekeeper will
see to 1t that his honey is kept BY
itself, for 1t will always bring the high.
est figures in the market. Later in the
season, as the bees commence to
gather from sources which give amber
colored honey, the whittier grades will
oil be extracted that the amber honey
may be kept by itself. In this way
the grade of the lighter honey will
not be lowered. In California the bee.
keeper cannot be too careful in ex.
tracing to keep his sage and alfalfa
honey entirely separate from that
from the wild buckwheat. 1t is even
more important that the still darker
buckwheat honey be kept by itself. II
is hardly necessary to suggest that
these darger grades of honey are lust
as suitable for wintering the bees as
Is any that is produced. Thus it be
hooves the beekeeper to extract the
lighter honey and let the bees fill UT
the combs with the darker varieties in
the later part Of the season for thei,
own food during the winter.
With the beekeepey, as with thos<
IN any department Of agriculture, 1t II
important to grade carefully. There
are few points which the beekeepel
should study with more thoroughnes.
than that of grading. II he is produc
Ing extracted honey he has only colo
% guide him in making up his grades
II, on the other hand, he Is workins
Tor comb honey. then he must have ,
lookout not only for color, but for tn,
number Of uncapped cells, complete
ness of the sections and the genera
appearance OF the same.
Ranero Ahn A-o-.