30 
enable it to take full advantage of the harvest. In addition itis only 
necessary to adjust the surplus honey receptacles in time, making the 
space given proportionate to the strength of the colony, and, while 
continuing to prevent as far as possible the issuance of swarms, to 
remove the accumulated honey fast enough to give abundant storage 
room. 
EXTRACTED HONEY. 
To secure extracted honey, the requisite number of combs may be in 
one long hive, or in stories one above another. Preference is most 
generally given to the latter plan. The brood apartment is made in 
this case to hold eight to twelve Langstroth frames, and a second, and 
sometimes a third or even a fourth story, may be added temporarily. 
These added stories may be for full-depth frames, or, for convenience 
in handling and in order to be able to control more closely the amount 
of space given, they may be half the usual depth, and but one of the 
half-depth stories added at a time. If numerous sets of combs are at 
hand, or if it is desirable to have others built, additional stories are 
put on as fast as the combs already occupied by the bees are filled. 
Before removing the filled combs time should be allowed the bees to 
ripen and cap the honey; 
hence enough combs are 
necessary to give the bees 
storage room while they are 
capping others. The honey 
in combs that are quite or nearly sealed over may be considered suffi- 
ciently ripened to be removed from the hive. 
It should also be taken promptly, in order to keep the various grades 
or kinds separate. However, when the combs of a given super are 
completely filled and sealed it may be marked and left on the hive if 
more convenient to be extracted later. 
The cells are uncapped by means of a sharp knife, made especially 
for this purpose (fig. 9), and the combs are then made to revolve rapidly 
in the honey extractor (fig. 10). The centrifugal force exerted on the 
honey throws it out, leaving the comb cells uninjured, or so slightly 
injured that they are wholly repaired within an hour or so after the 
return of the comb to the hive. The chief advantages of this method 
of harvesting over that of crushing the combs are at once apparent 
when it is known that each pound of comb saved represents several 
pounds of honey (consumed in its construction), and may, with care 
be used over almost indefinitely in securing surplus honey. Further- 
more, extracted honey is of much finer quality than that obtained by 
crushing the combs and straining out the liquid part, since it is free 
from crushed bees, larve, pollen or ‘‘ bee bread,” etc., which not only 
render strained honey dark and strong in flavor, but also make it liable 
to fermentation and souring. 
59 

TO _= 
Fig. 9.—Quinby uncapping knife. 

