336 AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON SCHOOLS 



in a season will depend largely upon the supply of flowers and 

 the vigor of the swarm. A strong swarm in a good season will 

 produce a surplus of 20 pounds of honey in the comb, or 30 

 to 35 pounds of extracted honey.* To extract honey, the 

 combs are taken out, the caps carefully cut off the cells and 

 then the decapped combs are whirled in a centrifugal machine 

 called an extractor. The empty combs are then replaced in 



8l. AN APIARY IN WINTER QUARTERS 



the hive and the bees can go to work filling the empty cells 

 at once, thus saving the time of making new combs. 



Almost any kind of empty box can be used for a bee- 

 hive, but where bee-keeping is done properly modern hives 

 are used. A good hive is a box-like affair with a removable 

 top and bottom. An opening, a small slot, is made at the 

 bottom in one side for the bees to enter. There should be 

 a ledge by this opening for the bees to alight on when return- 

 ing to the hive. Inside the box are hung frames containing 



* Farmers' Bulletin, No. 59. 



