54 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



cartons, but is not apt to be so. In my own practice, the honey 

 is removed from the hive in the supers and tiered where flies 

 or dust cannot reach it. When removed from the supers each 

 section is scraped to remove the most of the propohs, which 

 gives it an untidy appearance, to say the least, and it is at once 

 placed in the paper carton which insures its reaching the cus- 

 tomer in as cleanly condition as possible. 



If the taste of the bee-keeper, or the market he expects to 

 cater to, prefers extracted honey, the bees may be run for ex- 

 tracted or part comb and part extracted, if the apiarist desires. 

 One must be governed by taste and local or market conditions in 

 deciding which to adopt. 



Sometimes the sources from w^hich the honey are gathered 

 are such that comb honey of good appearance cannot be secured 

 while the quality of the honey secured may be very good. In 

 such cases I think it better to work for extracted honey. More 

 honey can be secured in this form, as when the combs are once 

 built they will last for years in good care and in a good flow will 

 be filled very rapidly, w^hile in comb honey production the comb 

 must be built new- with each pound. In working for extracted 

 honey, the same style hive may be used except that the super 

 arrangement must be different. Instead of a super case or 

 frames for holding section, half depth frames are usually used 

 and the frames built full of comb. 



In comb honey production it is most important that the bee- 

 keeper possess a knowledge of the sources from which he hopes 

 to secure a crop of honey, as a lack of this knowledge may lose 

 for him a large part of the crop, or the season may close, leaving 

 a large part of the honey crop in an unfinished condition. The 

 production of honey, either comb or extracted, fits in nicely 

 with fruit growing, with 'the exception of strawberries. The 

 picking season and the swarming season with the bees come at 

 nearly the same time and mean a great deal of work for the bee- 

 keeper unless he can be sure of plenty of good help. 



In the production of either comb or extracted honey it is of 

 the greatesit importance that we have strong colonies of bees of 

 the right age at the right time. To have these conditions we 

 must prepare for them sometime ahead. The season before we 

 hope or plan to harvest a crop of honey we should see that all 

 colonies are in good condition, that is, with suitable hives, plenty 



