1887 



GLEAK1NG8 IK JiEE CULTURE. 



Oi)l 



very common for people to put all their eggs 

 into one basket, in any line of agricultural 

 industry. Our neighbors Shane and Ciiase 

 are working principally, 1 suppose, for hon- 

 ey, yet both of them do something at farm- 

 ing, if 1 am correct. Friend Doolittle is 

 emphatically a honey-raiser, but he receives 

 at least a mOderate income in writing for 

 different periodicals, and I believe the same 

 might be said of yourself and a good many 

 others. Most specialists have, however, I 

 believe, followed your plan by getting en- 

 tirely into bee culture by a series of steps. 

 Sometimes they get out of bee culture also 

 by a series of .steps, and I think this is a far 

 better way than to abandon the business in 

 disgust, and sell off the fixtures for what 

 they will bring. Bee-keepers may some- 

 times make a good income the very lirst 

 year, but I believe that such is not general- 

 ly the case. My experience is greatly in 

 favor of persistently holding on to any line 

 of work that seems to be to your taste. You 

 will eventually reap your reward, if \< u 

 stick to your work long enough. 



COMB VERSUS EXTRACTED HONEY. 



.7. A. GREEN'S EXPERIENCE. 



fHE question as to whether it Is more profita- 

 ble to produce comb or extracted honey 

 will probably never be settled to the satis- 

 faction of all. One man declares that ho 

 can get thffee times as much extracted as 

 comb honey, while another insists that he can se- 

 cure nearlj- if not quite as much comb as he could 

 of extracted, and both are ready to saj- that the 

 other man does not know how to raise honey. 

 Both are practical honey-producers, and prove the 

 excellence of their methods by raising- large crops 

 of honey. Somewhere between these two extremes 

 lies the truth. 



1 suspect that a great deal of the difference in re- 

 sults is to be attributed to environment. Much de- 

 pends on the locality and the character of the 

 honey-flow, and still more on the method and the 

 man. I am almost inclined, though, to cull the 

 character of the honey-flow the most important 

 consideration. With only a light flow of honey, es- 

 pecially when in connection with cool weather, 

 bees will store honey in emptj- combs when they 

 Avill do little or nothing in the way of comb-build- 

 ing. Let the honey-flow be increased, and the dif- 

 ference lessens until at a certain point it is at its 

 lowest. At this time, I think the best method will 

 secure fully three-fourths as much comb honey as 

 could be had of extracted. Going beyond this 

 point, as is done in our best honey-flows, we find 

 that bees that are well supplied with empty combs 

 will bring in a much larger quantity— sometimes 

 three or four times as much— than they can build 

 combs for. 



With the honey-yield .iust right, there will not be 

 a very great difference in the amount of comb or 

 extracted honey that can be secured; but above or 

 below this point, those who run for extracted honey 

 will come out ahead. 



The generally accepted proportion of twice as 

 much extracted as comb is nearly right on an aver- 

 age, with the balance a little in I'avor of comb if 



the extracted honey is well ripened. Three times 

 as much of the half-ripe article usually extracted 

 as honey can be easily secured. 



There are other things to be taken into considera- 

 tion besides the comparative amounts of comb and 

 extracted honey that can be secured from a given 

 number of colonies. A man can take care of a great 

 many more colonies run for extracted honey than 

 for comb, because bees properly managed for ex- 

 tracted honey never swarm, and because the work 

 of taking off honey, instead of being crowded into 

 a few busy weeks, interfered with at the same 

 time by swarming and other distractions, may be 

 distributed through the season, or done wholesale 

 at a time when there is no other work to hinder, at 

 the pleasure of the apiarist. An apiary away from 

 home can be managed much more safely, and 

 with less trouble, if run lor extracted honey. 



When it comes to marketing the honey, if it is to 

 be shipped off' to be sold on commission, there is a 

 great saving of labor and expense in favor of ex- 

 tracted honey, as it requires no manipulation to 

 make it ready for market. Barrels, too, cost far 

 less than crates, and are practically safe from in- 

 jury in transportation, while comb honey is always 

 liable to breakiige. 



If the honey is to be put into small packages to be 

 sold at retail, the labor and expense of packages 

 bring the price nearly up to that of comb honey, 

 as comb can be sold in a home market without any 

 expense for packages, which is not so easy for ex- 

 tracted, except at home or by peddling. If you are 

 in a neighborhood where people will pay nearly or 

 quite as much for extracted as for comb— there 

 are such places— it will be to your interest, of 

 course, to produce extracted honey. 



Each one must decide for himself as to which 

 will be more profitable in his locality; but a little 

 advice may be acceptable to some. It you want to 

 keep bees with the minimum of labor and atten- 

 tion, produce exti-acted honey. If you can not pro- 

 duce nice white comb honey of good quality, pro- 

 duce extracted honey. If you have a good home 

 mai'ket at fair prices for extracted honey, by all 

 means supply that market. But if you are obliged 

 to ship your honey off' to be sold on commission, 

 you will find, as a rule, that comb honey will pay 

 you better. If you can secure most of your crop in 

 nice white comb, you will probably get more money 

 out of it in that shape than if it were extracted. 

 If in your home market a prejudice exists against 

 extracted honey, as is too often the case, it will not 

 pay you, as a general thing, to fight that prejudice. 

 There are many places where only a definite 

 amount of honey Vill be used, and you can sell 

 just as much comb honey as you can of extracted. 

 There is a double loss in selling extracted honey in 

 such a market. In producing extracted honey you 

 must sell twice as manj- pounds, while you can get 

 only half as much per pound. Where the market is 

 limited, the result is evident. 



I wish, in another article, to tell of my " combina- 

 tion system," in which the production of extracted 

 honey is so combined with that of comb as to get 

 rid of many of the shortcomings and annoyances 

 that uie met when woi-king lor coiiib alone, at the 

 same time producing the choicest extracted honc.^•. 



Dayton. 111., Aug. ;:.5, 18S7. .1. A. Giieen. 



Th;uii-;s, friend (Jre/n. I should deem the 

 above a very fair consideration in regard to 

 this complicated and very iniiuirtant unit- 



