MINNESOTA BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 313 



Mr. Doudna: I would like to give you a little experience I 

 had two years ago. I did not have room enough in the house 

 cellar, so I put fifty-seven colonies in a hole in the ground, 

 covered them over with a foot of dirt, made an air space, and 

 put another foot of dirt over them. About that time we got a 

 severe rain that soaked everthing. I then put on two tons of 

 straw on top. They staid in there all winter, and in the spring 

 I dug them out and took every hive out in the best condition I 

 ever took bees out in the spring in my life, but such moldy 

 combs I never saw. 



Mr. Pond, of Bloomington, then read a paper on the produc- 

 tion of extracted honey. 



THE PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 



BY E. R. POND, BLOOMINGTON. 



The apiary should be sheltered on the north and west. The hive 

 used should have a large frame and be made so that it can be 

 tiered up to an indefinite height. The first thing necessary is to get the 

 hives filled with bees. If they are weak when first set out in the spring 

 and short of stores, feed syrup in small quantities and often. This will 

 cause them to increase rapidly. As soon as they begin to store honey 

 more than they need for immediate use, or about the time white clover 

 begins to blossom, it is time to put on the second story. I use a zinc 

 queen excluder above the brood nest. If they do not commence working 

 above readily take one of the frames from below containing brood, see 

 that the queen is not on it, put an empty comb in its place, then put the 

 one with brood above; this will certainly start them at work above, if 

 there is any honey coming in. 



Without the queen excluder in working for extracted honey, in 

 nine cases out of ten the queen will go above, and in the fall when the 

 time comes to take off the upper story the bees and all the honey will 

 have to be moved below. When the frames in the upper story are well 

 filled either extract or raise up this story, putting another one under, 

 making a three story hive. 



The honey to be of the best flavor should be well ripened. A good many 

 claim it is better flavored when ripened on the hive, others think it is 

 just as good when evaporated in the sun, or over a slow fire. 



When you are ready to extract, you need a comb bucket or something 

 to carry the combs in. I use a box, carrying it on a spring wheelbarrow. 

 Fill the box with empty combs, and as you take out the full frames put 

 in the empty ones in their place, this saves time. When through take the 

 full frames to the honey house. Here you need a sharp knife to shave off 

 the cappings. 



Some complain that the honey that drains from the cappings tastes of 

 the smoke, but if so, I think they must smoke the bees unnecessarily. 



There are several different styles of extractors, each one claiming some 

 particular advantage over the others, but any one is good. 



