The Production of Extracted-Honey 291 



only a few times a year. The number and time of these 

 visits must be determined by the character of the honey- 

 flows. Usually the honey from each floral source should 

 be extracted separately and this necessitates a trip after 

 each honey-flow. The apiaries should be of such size that 

 either in one day or two all the extracting can be done, and 

 to help with this work unskilled labor may usually be em- 

 ployed. Since the giving of plenty of drawn combs re- 

 duces swarming, it is usually not profitable to keep a helper 

 at each apiary during the swarming season, for the few 

 swarms that would be saved are worth less than the helper 

 would cost. If the apiary can be located near the home 

 of some interested person the swarms may be caught, but 

 frequently it is desirable to put out-apiaries in rather deso- 

 late places, some distance from a dwelling. E. D. Town- 

 send of Northstar, Michigan, manages a number of out- 

 apiaries in northern Michigan on four trips a year. On 

 the first trip (June) he gives each strong colony two 10- 

 frame supers, each containing eight frames. On the second 

 trip (July) and the third (after the honey-flows) he extracts, 

 two trips being made to keep the clover and basswood honeys 

 separate. In October he sees that the colonies are ready 

 for winter, after which they are not again visited until June. 



Removing honey from the bees. 



Honey should not be removed from the hive for extracting 

 until well ripened. When at least two-thirds of the surface 

 of the comb is capped over the honey will be sufficiently 

 thick, but the humidity should be considered in laying down 

 a rule for this. In dry climates, such as the semi-arid 

 regions of the West, the evaporation of the water in the 

 nectar takes place rapidly and it is not necessary to wait 

 until so much of the honey is capped. Conversely in regions 

 of high humidity it is sometimes difficult to get honey well 

 ripened. 



When the time comes to extract, the usual practice is 

 to remove the frames one by one, returning those not ready j 



