CHAPTER XVII 

 THE PRODUCTION OF COMB-HONEY 



COMB-HONEY is honey as stored in the comb by the bees, 

 the size and shape of the comb being determined by the 

 small wooden box (section) provided by the beekeeper 

 and the comb being sold with the section still surrounding 

 it. The development of this style of package is readily 

 traced back to a period previous to the invention of the 

 modern hive. Formerly boxes were put on top of the box- 

 hive or skep in which the bees built comb and stored honey. 

 The next step was to make these boxes of a number of units 

 comparable to the modern section and to compel the bees 

 to build one comb in each unit. From this it was a short 

 step to separate sections with partitions (separators) between. 



Purity of comb-honey. 



The purchaser of a section of comb-honey may feel sure 

 that he is buying a pure product of the bees, since comb- 

 honey cannot be adulterated with profit. It is impossible 

 to make an artificial comb, fill it with syrup and cap it 

 over so that it even roughly resembles the work of the bees. 

 By the use of modern apiary appliances, comb-honey is 

 produced that is so attractive and uniform in appearance 

 that the claim is often made that it is manufactured. An 

 examination will, however, show that no two sections are 



NOTE. In the preparation of this chapter, the author is indebted 

 to his colleague, Geo. S. Demuth, for invaluable assistance. Mr. 

 Demuth's bulletin "Comb Honey" (U. S. Dept. Agric., Farmers' 

 Bulletin 503) should be read and studied by every producer of 

 comb-honey. 



301 



