The Production of Comb-Honey 303 



for it appeared that they might be covering their own mis- 

 deeds. Occasionally some ignorant or sensational writer 

 even now succeeds in repeating this error in print, but bee- 

 keepers promptly demand and usually receive a public 

 correction. There is not the slightest basis for the mis- 

 representation. 



Decrease in comb-honey production. 



With the invention of the honey extractor, some enthu- 

 siasts predicted that soon no comb-honey would be produced, 

 but this prophecy has not been fulfilled. Comb-honey has 

 a place in the American honey trade which cannot be filled 

 by extracted-honey. However, a gradual change is taking 

 place and the percentage of the total honey crop that is 

 produced in sections is decreasing annually. Professional 

 beekeepers have found that they can care for more colonies 

 when producing extracted-honey, thereby increasing their 

 profits. The spread of the brood diseases is rapidly eliminat- 

 ing the beekeepers with small apiaries for whom comb- 

 honey is more convenient and, while the number of colonies 

 in the United States is increasing, the sale of sections is 

 steadily decreasing. There are other reasons for this change 

 which appear later under the enumeration of the disadvan- 

 tages in comb-honey production. 



Demand for fancy comb-honey. 



The American markets are now demanding only fancy 

 comb-honey and the inferior grades and darker comb- 

 honeys find a poor sale. To be successful in competition 

 with extracted-honey, comb-honey must be a fancy article, 

 appealing to the fancy trade. For this reason, which is 

 becoming more evident every season, there are still many 

 beekeepers who produce comb-honey who should change 

 to extracted-honey, and it is to be hoped that this transi- 

 tion will continue until all the grades of comb-honey which 

 now injure the market are eliminated. On the other hand, 

 there will be increased profits for the best grades of comb- 



