THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



97 



prolitable crop — at least by present methods. 

 Let us see. Here are two apiaries of 

 bees in prime condition. Fifty colonies are 

 run for comb, and tifty for extracted. The 

 honey How opens abruptly and comes free 

 for a week. The fifty comb honey colonies 

 have no surplus combs, but put all they can 

 in the brood combs. In two or three days 

 they have their wax works started and the 

 foundation in sections drawn. Tlie extract- 

 ed honey colonies, having surplus combs 

 ready, will at once put honey in them rather 

 than " stuff " the brood combs. At the end 

 of three or four days we weigh the hives, and 

 find the weight nearly equal. We look in- 

 side and find not much I oney in the sec- 

 tions, but a lot in the extracting combs. 

 Judging by the looks of the surphts chaiiibers 

 we say the extracted colony is ahead. By 

 weighing the colonies we find lit le differ- 

 ence. 



A few days later we find the first extract- 

 ing chamber about full, and the first super 

 of sections about half full. At the end of 

 three or four weeks we have about fifty sec- 

 tions per colony or seventy five pounds ex- 

 tracted. Now weigh the brood chambers, 

 and a comb honey colony will have — if a ten- 

 frame — about forty pounds of stores and a 

 fair amount of brood, while the other will 

 have about twenty-five pounds of stores and 

 a large amount of brood. Comb honey, fifty 

 pounds at ten cents, $0.00. Colony in good 

 condition and plenty of stores. .$5.00 gain. 

 Seventy-five pounds extracted honey at six 

 cents, !|4.r)0. Colony short of stores and a 

 house full of young coming on. In spring, 

 feed ten pounds of honey at six cents, sixty 

 cents, leaving gain of !J3.90, against $.5.00 

 from the comb honey colony. 



Again, if the flow comes even and not so 

 rapid, the sections get started before the ex- 

 tracting combs have so much in them, yet 

 the same condition prevails in the brood 

 chamber, ('. c, more honey and less brood 

 in the section colony, and more brood and 

 less honey in the extracting colony. The 

 season closes with perhaps a third more ex- 

 tracted than comb, and about the same dif- 

 ference as before in the brood combs. 



The third year comes. The flow is very 

 limited. Section work will not go at all ex- 

 cept in the best of the comb honey colonies, 

 while the extracted colonies are storing their 

 honey above and rearing much brood be- 

 low. Season closes, and we have five pounds 

 cOmb against twenty-five pounds extracted. 



That's fifty cents against $1.25 in favor of 

 the extracted colonies. N-o — let's see : it 

 takes more spring feed than ever this time. 

 Honey came in so slowly that it nearly all 

 went into the extracted apartment, and must 

 be nearly all fed back again. 



But you say comb costs more to raise. We 

 will see about that. Fifty sections per col- 

 ony at }.2 cent, 25 cents. Foundation for 

 same },i pound, 25 cents. Putting founda- 

 tion in sections, }.i cent each, 12,^2 cents. 

 Two shipping cases at 20 cents, 40 cents. 

 Cleaning and casing, }.2 cent, 25 cents. 

 Total. $1.27>2, cost of the fifty pounds comb. 



Now suppose we get instead of one-half 

 more, say twice as much extracted. Labor 

 of extracting 100 pounds at rate of 1,000 

 pounds per day for two men at $l.tX) each, 

 20 cents. Sixty pound cans to put it in cost 

 7:3 of a cent per pound, or GG cents. Total 

 8G cents. 



Supers for sections cost some more than 

 extracting chambers (empty) so we will put 

 the empty super against the extracting 

 chamber and combs. Then the trouble of 

 carrying over the extracting combs, and 

 keeping out mice and moths, is quite an 

 item. 



Now let us see about the field work. It is 

 a little easier to control swarming when ex- 

 tracting, but it is more labor to take off 100 

 pounds of extracted than .50 of comb ; then 

 the former must be extracted at once and 

 canned, no matter how rushed you are, and 

 while extracting the 100 pounds a second 

 100 of comb could be taken off. The field 

 work of the extracted is equal to that of the 

 comb, while the shop work is much more, 

 and must be done during the flow. 



If we sell at this point we get, at present 

 prices, for the comb, 14 cents, or $7.00 less 

 cost $1.27, leaving net $5.73. ItK) pounds ex- 

 tracted at 7 cents — the very highest price — 

 $7.00, less cost 86 cents, $6.14 net. But sup- 

 pose your crop does not sell at once. If not, 

 it will candy. When candied it will sell for 

 1,2 to one cent less, or you have the liquefy- 

 ing, a job of no little consequence. Then 

 again if it must be put into retail packages, 

 they cost from two to four cents per pound, 

 besides the labor of getting it into them, 

 though there will be an increase in price 

 when so put up. 



If it were true that we can double the crop 

 by extracting, then we very largely increase 

 the labor. Labor is the most expensive part 

 of it. 



