14 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



The Merits, Production and Sale of 

 "Chunk Honey." 



^HE produc- 

 T^ tion of chunk 

 honey does not 

 mean going back 

 to the old way 

 of producing 

 comb honey, but 

 ^^. Wv it does mean 



^^^Vl^y||U|^^^ nearer Nature's 

 ^^^^^ flt' ^^B^ way; and is the 

 ^m^^^_^^J^|H simplest 



and most eco- 

 nomical way in which comb honey can be 

 produced. It is a combination of both 

 comb and extracted honey production, 

 and is most satisfactory to the producer, 

 dealer and consumer. 



Almost all families who are fond of 

 honey differ in taste; some like strained 

 honey and others like it in the comb; in 

 fact, nearly all like a change. If the 

 honey is mixed in the packing, the comb 

 of one flavor and the extracted of 

 another, it wards off that tired-out taste; 

 and, in a majority of cases; there will 

 never be any "tire out."' 



If comb honey which granulates quickly 

 is packed up in extracted honey which 

 is less inclined to candy, or will not 

 granulate at all, it will greatly prolong 

 granulation. 



Space does not permit me to bring out 

 many advantages that chunk honey pro- 

 duction has over either section or ex- 

 tracted production, but I will briefly 

 outline some of the work necesssry in 

 chunk honey production, and the reader 

 can see its disadvantages and advan- 

 tages; if it is done, either on a small scale 

 or extensively. 



First permit me to say that I am 

 writing from years of experience in all 

 the different ways of producing honey. 

 Also there were times when my business 

 has been in the "rut," and I only 



J. J. WILDER. 



realized a scant living from it. I have 

 had my "ups'" and "downs," and I feel 

 free to relate what I am now doing. Also, 

 it will be seen that location has nothing 

 to do with this subject. Neither has the 

 market; for it is a well-known fact that 

 the honey market in the southeast is far 

 more delicate than any place in the 

 United States. ""*"'; 



In early spring, at the beginning of the 

 honey flow, all colonies that are expected 

 to store honey are elevated from the 

 bottom boards 1 1 inches, by means of 

 two strips of wood under the sides of the 

 hives, leaving an opening at the front and 

 back of the hives, thus allowing a cur- 

 rent of air to pass under the frames. 

 The opening at the rear, however, is 

 only half as deep as the one in the front. 

 The object of this is to discourage 

 swarming and loafing, prevent the melt- 

 ing down of combs, drying the interior of 

 the hives, securing greater progress in 

 the supers, a thicker and better article of 

 honey and more beautiful appearance. 



Shallow extracting frames and supers 

 are used. One or two of these are left 

 on each colony over winter, and more 

 are added during the season as they are 

 needed. As soon as the bees begin 

 gathering honey, we see to it that the 

 bottom super contains three combs, one 

 on either side and one in the center; if 

 we have them, even more combs are 

 placed in these bottom supers. If we 

 have not any combs, then new frames 

 containing full sheets of foundation are 

 placed in these supers. The object is to 

 get the bees into these bottom supers as 

 early as possible. 



The old frames, which contain only 

 about one inch of comb next to the top- 

 bar, are mostly placed in the second 

 super with one or two ready-built combs 

 in the center, or else a few new frames 

 containing full sheets of foundation. 



