1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



61 



COMB HONEY VS. EXTRACTED. 



Amount of Honey Consumed by the Bees 

 in Building New Combs not Important 

 in the Discussion; Wax Secreted Invol- 

 untarily; Extracted Honey More Prof- 

 itable for Slow Flows; Wax Produced 

 for Market. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



Continurd from last issue, f'Rf •?/■ 



Almost every one knows that, durint;; slow 

 Hows especially, if a few sections are put into a 

 super as baits it is a great inducement tor a small 

 cluster of bees to gather on them; and the bees in 

 that cluster soon deposit some nectar in the emp- 

 ty drawn combs of such sections, and after this 

 the greater force of the bees below follow, so that 

 work in the super is started in earnest if there is 

 any honey-rtow to justify it. It is, therefore, un- 

 questionably true that extracting-combs have the 

 advantage in getting work started more promptly. 



This is a problem that taxes the skill of the 

 apiarist. If the colonies are weak, or if the flow 

 is light, the bees will not promptly enter comb- 

 honey supers. A brood-nest clogged with hon- 

 ey will not only curtail the amount of brood, but 

 will encourage swarming, sulking, and loafing. 

 Many plans have been proposed in order to force 

 the bees into the supers, the chief one being to 

 have the colonies so populous that the workers 

 must go into the supers or else get outside the 

 hive; and if they loaf or cluster in the supers they 

 are almost certain to work there if stores are be- 

 ing gathered. 



Now, suppose the apiarist knows his business 

 well enough to get the bees staited in the comb- 

 honey supers as promptly as in extracted-honey 

 supers; why should there be any more extracted 

 honey produced than comb honey, granting that 

 the wax secretion and comb-building principles, 

 mentioned in the first article, are true? With or- 

 dinary skill and management there will hes. small 

 gain in favor of the extracted honey. On the 

 other hand, if the apiarist allows swarming, or if 

 he divides too much, or allows weak colonies to 

 be run for surplus, there will be a more marked 

 difference in favor of the extracted honey. In 

 other words, if the man handling the bees is not 

 their master — if he runs them on the hit-or-miss 

 plan, and allows them practically to manage 

 themselves while he simply puts on and takes off 

 8ui>€rs, then by all means he should aim to pro- 

 duce either extracted or bulk comb honey. 



THE COMPARATIVE RESULTS IN HONEY. 



When plenty of storage-combs are placed 

 above a colony, and the storing in them is once 

 started, it often happens that almost all the honey 

 goes into these combs. A small brood-chamber, 

 a strong laying queen, or both together, will most 

 surely result in the honey being placed above and 

 all the brood below. This is an ideal condition 

 if a late flow follows; but if practically all the 

 honey comes from one flow, and a dearth follows, 

 •hen, when there is such a mass of brood below 

 and the honey above taken off and sold, feeding 

 must be resorted to or the bees will starve before 

 the next spring. We may say in general, there- 

 fore, that, where the amount of extracted honey 



produced is much in excess of the possible amount 

 of comb honey, the foregoing is the result. I 

 have destroyed hundreds of colonies in just this 

 way, and in the end was the loser because I paid 

 most dearly for the extra number of pounds of 

 honey sold. 



Divide an apiary into two parts as nearly alike 

 as possible, and run them side by side — one for 

 extracted and the other for comb, giving each the 

 same care in every respect throughout the year. 

 Keep strict account of the number of pounds of 

 surplus, and then invoice at the end of the full 

 year — that is, just before the beginning of the 

 next honey-flow; or at the close of the honey-har- 

 vest weigh the surplus from each and the amount 

 of stores remaining. It will be found that the 

 extracted-honey colonies are the lighter in stores 

 and the heavier in brood. This extra amount of 

 brood without a later honey-flow will mean that 

 the queens will be worn out, and the colonies will 

 not winter well unless fed. 



If the apiarist desires to obtain the most sur- 

 plus with the least expenditure for skill and care 

 he had better run his bees for extracted or bulk 

 comb honey. Furthermore, during the seasons 

 when the honey-flow is very light the extracted 

 honey can be obtained when it would be impos- 

 sible to obtain a surplus of comb honey, and if 

 any at all were obtained it would be of an off 

 grade unless the greatest care were exercised. My 

 judgment is that, all things considered, there can 

 be but little more extracted honey produced than 

 comb when the bees are left with sufficient stores, 

 and the proportion between the two becomes more 

 nearly equal as the skill of the apiarist increases. 



The first and main thing to be considered is 

 the relative cost of production; for when we have 

 the cost price we can tell for ourselves which kind 

 we ought to produceby comparing this cost price 

 with our selling prices. Then it is well for every 

 bee-keeper to experiment with both, for it is true 

 that one person may fail producing one kind of 

 honey while the next fails in producing the other 

 kind. It is also true that local conditions make 

 a decided difference. Let me Illustrate this point 

 by mentioning some of the conditions as I have 

 found them. 



HOW LOCAL CONDITIONS AFFECT THE PROBLEM. 



When I first came to this locality, eighteen or 

 twenty years ago, we obtained almost the whole 

 product of both surplus and winter stores from 

 one alfalfa-honey flow beginning about June 15th 

 and lasting from four to six and sometimes even 

 eight weeks. Under these conditions we had to 

 make a strenuous effort to get all the colonies in 

 the very best shape possible for this flow, and 

 then the bees had the rest of the summer to get 

 themselves ready for winter. In those days, if I 

 could start the bees to working promptly in the 

 supers, and keep them from sulking, there was 

 but little difference in the results in the compara- 

 tive yields in colonies run for either comb or ex- 

 tracted honey, although this difference, such as it 

 was, was in favor of the extracted-honey colonies. 



This, however, is now changed. In the good 

 old days alfalfa hay was cheap, and many of the 

 fields were allowed to stand in full bloom for two 

 or three weeks. There were but few bees in the 

 country to work on it, and large yields were ob- 

 tained. Now the farmer watches his alfalfa, and 

 usually cuts it when the first bloom appears, and 



