790 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 10, 1903. 



at one time, and they can be freed of bees much quicker 

 than can full bodies. To free them of bees we simply smoke 

 down between the frames well, and then pry the super 

 loose and jounce it, when it will be found that most of the 

 bees will fall out. They can then be stacked up and a hole 

 left at the top, when, in two or three hours time, the last 

 bee will have left the supers. 



Then, again, the supers and frames are nice for ex- 

 tracted honey, should the beekeeper in any event desire to 

 use them, and, in fact, in putting- up bulk comb honey it re- 

 quires about one-third extracted honey with which to put 

 the comb up. 



In packing bulk comb we cut out the comb nicely and 

 place it in the cans, and afterwards pour in extracted honey 

 to cover the comb and to fill up the crevices, and, in this 

 way, about one-third extracted honey goes in, and it must 

 be remembered that this extracted honey goes in at the 

 comb-honey price. It has been found both practical and 

 profitable to produce both comb and extracted honey in the 

 same apiary, and, in fact, on the same hives at the same 

 time, for many have found that it pays them to have one 

 super of combs on top of the regular brood nest, so that the 

 queen may fill it with brood before the honey-flow, if she 

 likes, and when the flow comes these supers catch the first 

 nectar, and as soon as the flow is on, and the bees have com- 

 menced to secrete wax, this super of combs is lifted and the 

 empty frames of foundation placed between them and the 

 brood, which is the most efi^ectual way of baiting bees into 

 the supers ; and then it will be found that where colonies 

 are so worked swarming is kept in check, if not entirely 

 prevented, the queen is left in entire possession of the reg- 

 ular brood-nest, and by the time the flow is over the brood 

 will have hatched from the shallow super of combs, and the 

 bees will have filled it with extracted honey, and this is just 

 what we will want in putting up our comb honey, as we 

 have already shown that at least one-third the honey must 

 be extracted with which to pack the comb. It has been 

 demonstrated, time and again, that bees will store all the 

 way from SO percent to 100 percent more honey when worked 

 for section honey, and many believe (the writer included) 

 that where the bees are worked as outlined above, nearly, 

 if not quite, as much bulk comb honey can be produced as 

 could be produced of extracted honey alone, and especially 

 does this hold good where the localities have fast flows of 

 honey, in which a great amount of wax is always secreted 

 whether there are any combs to build or not. 



This year's experience confirms all the above, and 

 more, and we are more than ever convinced of the advan- 

 tages of producing bulk comb honey. In addition I will say 

 that we would advise all to use full sheets of foundation in 

 the supers at all times, and we more than ever recommend 

 the Ideal, or 5^, super for the production of bulk comb 

 honey. 



We will now show the relative cost of bulk comb to -sec- 

 tion honey. When we buy bulk comb supers and frames we 

 have bought them to use for years. When we buy sections 

 they are for only one season's use, whether they be filled 

 with honey or not. Then we have to have costly separa- 

 tors, followers, etc., that soon give out, to be replaced. 

 When we go to ship we have to have costly glass-front 

 shipping-cases, and these cases in turn packed in crates for 

 shipment. When we pack section honey we have to take 

 lots of time and patience to scrape the sections. When we 

 pack bulk comb honey we buy cases of cans and cut the 

 honey out into them. When we get ready to ship we have 

 to pay a high rate of freight on section honey, and more, 

 run the risk of having a good part of it badly damaged or 

 destroyed all together. When we ship bulk comb we get a 

 low extracted-honey rate, and have the assurance that it 

 will go through as safely as if it were extracted honey. 

 When we go to prepare supers for the harvest, all we have 

 do to our bulk comb supers is to scrape the top-bars a little 

 and fasten in the foundation ; but with section honey we 

 have to makeup shipping-cases and sections, and spend a 

 long time putting the foundation in just right. 



Again, you will find that there is much less work at- 

 tached to the production of bulk comb honey than there 

 would be if producing section honey. I believe that the 

 spring and summer work is reduced abount one-half. 



For fastening in the foundation in the shallow frames, 

 we use a machine that always puts the foundation in right 

 and true, and securely. The machine works on the hot-plate 

 principle, said plate being kept at the right temperature by 

 a gasoline burner. This machine is also adapted for use in 

 putting foundation in any kind or sized frame having the 

 Langstroth length. However, the majority do not have 

 these machines, btit they can put the foundation on the top- 



bars with melted wax. Simply keep a can of wax hot, and 

 then use a spoon with which to pour a small quantity along 

 the edge of the foundation, which is first placed squarely in 

 the center of the top-bar. 



When the supers are put on, the bees go to work in the 

 bulk comb supers at once, and in a big cluster, and thereby 

 forgetting to swarm ; but with section supers the bees have 

 to be carefully baited and coaxed into the supers, and when 

 they get there they are cut off into 24 or more small com- 

 partments, which they have to try to keep warm, and to 

 get them sealed out to the wood we have to crowd the bees, 

 and thereby losing honey. By crowding we lose equally 

 as much honey as we do when ^he supers are first put on, 

 by reason of the bees being slow to enter the sections. 

 Just how much honey is lost by the bees being slow to enter 

 the sections, how much is lost by crowding, and how much 

 is lost by swarming, I am unable to say, but it is consid- 

 erable. 



You may take the items in the production of the two 

 honeys from beginning to end, and there is not an item 

 that is not in favor of bulk comb honey, except solely in 

 the matter of price received ; but, friends, where unbiased 

 men have tried the production of the two honeys side by 

 side, and carefully taken into consideration every factor, 

 they have invariably found that they can make at least 60 

 percent more money producing bulk comb, and many have 

 placed the percent much higher. 



There is another fact : Not one of the men who once 

 quit section honey has gone back to it. We were ourselves 

 large section-honey producers several years ago, but have 

 been converted, and have disposed of most of our section- 

 honey supers, and to-day have a large pile of them awaiting 

 a purchaser. 



You may say, I have no trade or demand for bulk comb 

 honey. I will say that all you have to do is to produce it 

 and offer it for sale, and you will soon have a trade that 

 nothing but bulk comb will satisfy. You may say, I will 

 have to ship my honey, and, what then ? There is no mar- 

 ket for this new product. I will say, take your honey to 

 the cities and ofi'er it yourself, and you will find a ready 

 and appreciative market, and one that will next year de- 

 mand more bulk comb, and the grocerymen will have to 

 order their supplies from you. There is no question but 

 that a market can be found. The bee-keepers of Texas 

 have found a market for more than they can produce, and I 

 take it that the bee-men of other States have the same in- 

 telligence and the same get-up-and-get that the Texas bee- 

 men have. 



The packages used in putting up in this locality are now 

 most largely 3, 6, and 12 pound tin friction-top pails that 

 are put up in crates holding 10 of the 12-pound cans, 10 of 

 the 6-pound cans, and 20 of the 3-pound cans. There is also 

 some demand for bulk comb in 60 pound cans, two in a case, 

 the cans having 8 inch screw-tops. These are sometimes 

 ordered where the buyer desires to put the honey into glass 

 packages for a fancy trade. 



The question has been asked me, " How about it when 

 the extracted part candies?" Well, you will either have 

 to dispose of the honey before it candies, or teach your cus- 

 tomers that there is no finer dish on earth than a fine grade 

 of candied bulk comb honey. Our Texas trade does not 

 object to candied honey in the least, as it has learned that 

 honey is really better in its candied state. I fully realize, 

 however, that this propensity to candy will be one of the 

 drawbacks to its production in the North, and so would 

 advise all to go slowly until they have a ready market for 

 it before cold weather, or until they can teach their custo- 

 mers that it is really better candied. 



We have lately " caught onto " a plan to prevent the 

 candying of bulk comb honey, and that is to put up the 

 comb in extracted honey that has been well heated, and seal 

 up the cans with parafline while the honey is yet hot, and 

 we believe that it will not granulate under one year, and 

 that is the opinion of Mr. Boyden, also. However, Mr. 

 Boardman, of Ohio, has been drawn to the bulk comb idea, 

 and has gone to work to find a way to keep it, and keep it 

 just as taken from the bees. We hope he will be successful. 



Some have asked me where the cans can be secured, and 

 I will say that all are made by the American Can Co., but 

 call for the cans made for their Texas honey-can trade. 

 Now, in lieu of the regular cans you may use for the home 

 trade, lardpails, or Mason jars, which are all right, and per- 

 haps better, as the cans are made primarily for the ship- 

 ping trade. 



I wish to refute the statement made that the production 

 of bulk comb honey was the old-fogy way of honey-produc- 

 tion. I assure you that it is not, and that it requires as 



