January, 1914. 



American Hee Journal 



of Taft or Roosevelt. More to be de- 

 sired, it would seem, is f'ugene Secor's 

 remarkable life time harvest of friend- 

 ship. 

 Atlantic, Iowa. 



Comb or Extracted Honey ? 



BY DR. C, C. MILLER. 



IT is a common thing for a beginner 

 to ask the question : " Can I make 

 more money on extracted honey 

 than on comb ?" With the expecta- 

 tion of an immediate reply, Yes or 

 No. It is not a question to be an- 

 swered offhand in that way. A num- 

 ber of things must be taken into con- 

 sideration, and then it will generally 

 be left for the beginner to decide for 

 himself, perhaps after a little experi- 

 menting with both kinds of honey. 



There are e.xperienced and success- 

 ful beekeepers who produce extracted 

 honey. That is a pretty clear proof 

 that they find extracted more profitable 

 than comb. But there are also experi- 

 enced and successful beekeepers who 

 produce only comb. Just as clearly 

 they think comb more profitable for 

 them. 



It may be well to mention some of 

 the items that are factors in the case. 

 Other things being equal, comb honey 

 may well have the preference, because 

 it brings a higher price, perhaps a half 

 more. On the other hand it is gener- 

 ally believed that about a half more ex- 

 tracted than comb can be produced. 

 Some, however, say that with them the 

 difference is not so great as to the 

 amount produced. Possibly the loca- 

 tion may have something to do with 

 this. Then, too, there are localities 

 where a pound of extracted brings 

 nearly if not quite as much as a pound 

 of comb. 



In some regions the flow of nectar 

 is of short duration, but comes in a 

 flood while it lasts. In others the flow 

 is light but long continued. The 

 former is favorable for comb, the lat- 

 ter for extracted. 



In some places there is a prejudice 

 in favor of comb honey ; in some 

 places it is the other way. The bee- 

 keeper must, at least to some e.xtent, 

 cater to the wishes of his customers. 



Where the harvest is mostly of dark 

 honey of strong flavor, the preference 

 is for extracted honey, for such honey 

 may be sold for baking and other pur- 

 poses, while lighter honey is desired 

 for sections. Perhaps this may not 

 apply to the same degree where bulk- 

 comb honey is produced. Indeed in 

 some places the whole problem will be 

 solved by the production of this style 

 of honey, requiring both comb and ex- 

 tracted. 



It requires more skill to produce 

 comb honey, and more labor in the 

 apiary during the harvest time. The 

 swarming problem is vastly more 

 troublesome with comb than with ex- 

 tracted honey. All this makes it pos- 

 sible to keep a larger number of bees, 

 and so to get more honey by ex- 

 tracting. 



A MORAL QUESTION. 



In settling the question as to whether 

 one should produce comb or extracted 

 honey, it is perhaps right to say that 

 there is a sort of moral point of view 

 in the case. Will one do more good 

 by producing extracted or comb 

 honey ? We are told in the French 

 bee journal, I'Apiculteur, that an up- 

 to-date physician, Dr. Carton, has 

 written a brochure in which he makes 

 the somewhat startling statement that 

 the three most deadly aliments are 

 alcohol, meat, and sugar. No unpreju- 

 diced person is likely to question the 

 deadliness of alcohol. Some of our 

 leading writers are inclined to view 

 with complacency the present high 

 price of meat as a blessing in disguise, 

 believing that a reduction in the 

 amount of meat consumed will be for 

 the health of the people. But it is not 

 so generally understood that the large 

 amount of sugar consumed, especially 

 in this country, when the annual con- 

 sumption by every man, woman, and 



A pet colony of Henry C. Barron at Hagerman. New Mexico. Mr. Barron operates a large 

 number of colonies in the southwest. 



child averages more than 80 pounds, is 

 accountable for much ill health and 

 many deaths. When cane sugar is 

 eaten it must be inverted before it can 

 be assimilated, and when an unrea- 

 sonable amount is consumed the heavy 

 burden thrown upon the digestive or- 

 gans and the kidneys is too much for 

 them, and they become diseased. 



On the other hand, if honey takes the 

 place of sugar there is no such danger, 

 for the sugar in honey is already invert- 

 ed, ready for immediate assimilation. 

 Whoever, therefore, is the means of 

 getting the public to use honey in the 

 place of sugar is doing just so much to 

 conserve the public health and to pre- 

 vent loss of life through inordinate 

 consumption of cane sugar. Hence, 

 the moral aspect. And with this view 

 in mind, the question is, which will 

 secure the largest consumption of 

 honey, producing it in the form of 

 comb or extracted honey? 



Two factors come in here : First, 

 the better a thing tastes, the more peo- 

 ple will want to eat it. Second, the 

 less a thing costs the more of it can 

 be sold. As to the first of these items, 

 there would probably be a general agree- 

 ment that comb honey tastes better 

 than e-xtracted. We are told that the 

 essential oils that give to honey its 

 delightful aroma are better preserved 

 in comb than in extracted honey. 

 Along with this goes the matter of 

 looks, and in this respect comb honey 

 is far ahead. A beautiful, snow-white 

 section of honey graces the table for 

 company as can no sample of extracted 

 honey in whatever kind of dish. When 

 honey is eaten on hot cakes, the con- 

 venience of extracted honey gives it 

 the preference. 



It is only fair to say that while the 

 aroma of comb honey excels that of 

 extracted, the quality of honey is im- 

 proved by being left a considerable 

 time in the care of the bees. The 

 whiter the cappings, the better comb 

 honey sells. So sections must be hur- 

 ried off the hive as soon as sealed lest 

 they become darkened. In e.xtracting 

 combs, however, it may be left on three 

 times as long, giving it a richness and 

 ripeness not to be secured in the very 

 white sections. So it may be possible 

 that this richness and ripeness may 

 offset any superiority in the way of 

 preservation of volatile oils in comb 

 honey. 



There are wealthy people with whom 

 the matter of cost cuts little or no 

 figure, and with them the looks of 

 comb honey will give it the preference. 

 Indeed, if there were no choice either 

 as to taste or looks, there are a few 

 who would prefer the higher-priced 

 just because of its higher price. The 

 great middle class, however, if they 

 can get extracted honey that is thor- 

 oughly ripened and of best quality, will 

 be certain to find the difference in 

 price of more importance than any 

 difference in quality they can recog- 

 nize ; and the poorer classes who find 

 the price of comb honey prohibitive 

 may still feel that they can afford to 

 buy extracted. So it would seem that 

 with the difference in price likely to 

 prevail always, more extracted than 

 comb will be sold. Or, taking a very 

 general view of the case, the man who 

 produces extracted honey produces 



