342 



(iLKAXIXdS IN BEE CULTURE 



Ji NK 1 



General Correspondence 



EXTRACTING DURING THE HONEY- 

 FLOWS. 



Stacking up Supers vs. Extracting Frequently 

 During the Flow. 



BY G. C. GREINER. 



[Kortunately tlie niiniber of bee-keepens who ex- 

 tract honey before it is at all capped is growing 

 smaller — many of the prominent producers even 

 going so far at present as to do no extracting until 

 the end of the season, stacking up the supers four 

 and Hve high. The writer of this article represents 

 the majority, probably, who. during the flow, ex- 

 tract all co7iibs that are nearly capped over.— Kd.] 



The question which I am frequently ask- 

 ed, " Would you advise nie to produce comb 

 or extracted honey?" must be decided by 

 e\ ery bee-keeper according to his nattiral in- 

 cUnation and surrounding conditions. The 

 main point that shouki decide the matter is 

 our outlet or demand. If we have a ready 

 market, and are fortunate enough to live in 

 a locality that produces a fair grade of hon- 

 ey, the production of extracted honey is cer- 

 tainly advisable. 



But, above all things, nothing but a prime 

 article should ever be taken or sent to the 

 market. The importance of this point is 

 nicely brought out by Mr. Townsend in his 

 "Two-can article,'" i)ublished in the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal a short time ago. I fully 

 agree with Mr. T. that a poor article will 

 ruin our trade: but I have to differ with 

 him on the management of producing a 

 l)rime grade. My methods are so different 

 from >Ir. T.'s, with some important atl van- 

 tages thrown in, that a brief description of 

 my ))ioclus operandi may be a help to oth- 

 ers who are situated as I am. But before 

 making the attempt I will make a few gen- 

 eral remarks, lest Mr. T. and his adherents 

 may get scared. 



For years I have practiced extracting 

 (luring the honey season, commencing when 

 my combs are eaiijied three-quarters or over. 

 < )f course, I do not sujjpose that all my 

 combs are in just that stage of progress. I 

 may find some that are all cai)i)ed, and oc- 

 casionally one not quite three-(juarters; but 

 if such a one comes in rotation with the lot 

 to be extracted, it goes into the extractor 

 jusl the same. 



I sell at least nine-tenths of all my croj) 

 direct to the consumer, which brings me in 

 close contact with that class of i)eo])le who 

 actually use and test my honey; and if it 

 did not give entire satisfactiQji, I would be 

 very ai)t to hear about it. Buj, instead, I 

 have, during the last eight or ten years, 

 built uj) a honey trade, with a reputation 

 for extra-fine honey, that any honey-pro- 

 ducer might be i)roud of. In a sense. I am 

 a ])rofessional honey-]troducer — that is, I de- 

 pend on the i)roduct of my bees almost ex- 

 clusively for my daily bread and butter, and 



I expect to do so just as long as Providence 

 permits. This being the case it would be 

 very poor policy to produce an article that 

 would spoil my own market. 



Several reasons induce an<i compel me to 

 extract early. First, if I should leave my 

 honey on the hive until after the honey sea- 

 son, as Mr. T. atlvises us to do. it would be 

 next to impossible to extract it. It would 

 become so thick and heavy that a gootl por- 

 tion of it would adhere to the comb and be 

 lost as suri>lus. When 1 extracted last sum- 

 mer, early as it was, with now and then 

 little patches of open honey, I had to do 

 quite a little cranking to throw it out of the 

 combs, and after it was out it was very slow 

 to run out of the two-inch honey-gate of the 

 extractor. 



Second, my customers are always anxious 

 to get some of my first honey. Whenever 

 I am in the city during spring or early sum- 

 mer, my customers frequently hail me on 

 the street: " When will you bring some of 

 your honey to the market? " or, "'Haven't 

 you any honey to sell yet?" or, " Bring me 

 some of your first honey you have to sell." 

 etc. These are expressions I hear time and 

 again. If I should wait until fall before I 

 extracted, my customers would lose their 

 patience and supply themselves from some 

 other source, and I would lose my trade. 

 As it is, a large share of my crop is sold, and 

 the money in my pocket, before Mr. T. even 

 thinks of extracting. 



Third, I believe the use of one extracting- 

 super, instead of tiering up, increases my 

 honey crop. The constant changing and 

 shifting of combs, which is necessary with 

 my management, seems to have an energy- 

 producing effect on my bees. The shaking- 

 energy-into-bees theory, which some of our 

 friemls advocate, seems to find here practi- 

 cal application. On the other hand, if the 

 forces of a colony are scattere<l through 

 three or four sets of extracting-combs, em])- 

 ty or filled, idly taking care of uselessly 

 si)read-out premises, how can they be gath- 

 ering and ripening honey? They can not 

 do as elTeclive work as when all forces are 

 concentrated in one super close to the brood- 

 nest. 



It may be well enough to say a few words 

 about my appliances, and why I use them. 

 As I am a strong advocate of perfect imi- 

 formity in every thing where possible, I use 

 the .Jiimbo frame, both in bnxid-chamber 

 and extracting-sui)er. I am thereby enabled 

 to change frames back and fortii; It is 

 sometimes very desirable to move combs of 

 brood from the4)rood-chamber to the super, 

 and at other times combs of honey in the 

 opi)osite way. It is the same with the su- 

 l)er and the brood-chamber. At a minute's 

 notice one can l)e used for the other. By 

 simply hooking or unhooking the bottom, 

 as the case may be, one is the other when- 

 ever tlesirable. 



Then I use to each hive one extracting- 

 sui>er only. I am i)artly compelled to do 

 so. My physical condition, as a conse- 

 (pience of advanced age, i)revents me from 



