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PRIZE ESSAY. 



Extracted Honey— One Method 

 of Its Production. 



Written fur tlic American Bee Journal 



BY H. W. FUNK. 



A short time before the honey har- 

 vest begins— usually the last days of 

 May, or the lirst week in June — tlie 

 tirst upper story should be put on the 

 brood-chamber, for which I prefer a 

 10-frame Langstroth hive. The upper 

 stories are just the same as the brood- 

 chamber, only lacking a bottom and 

 an entrance. It adds very much to 

 the pleasure, and probably to the 

 profits (as "time is money" during 

 the honey season), if a slatted honey- 

 board is used between the different 

 stories, to prevent the upper frames 

 from being stuck to the lower ones; an 

 old quilt that is full of holes, may be 

 used as a substitute. 



HOW^ TO MAKE A HONEY-BOARD. 



I prefer a honey-board made as fol- 

 lows, to anything else that I have 

 tried : It is made of strips about 11 

 inclies wide, and 5 of an inch longer 

 than the outside of the hive. These 

 are placed a bee-space apart, and just 

 as wide as the hive (outside), and the 

 whole is cleated together by a f-inch 

 square strip, that has a groove cut in 

 the middle, half way through, just the 

 same as an old-style Heddon hive- 

 cover is cleated. These end strips 

 keep the board in place, and also keep 

 the upper stories from slipping or 

 blowing ofl'. Tliis board may easily 

 be made break-joint, but I am not 

 sure that it is an advantage. 



NUMBER OF FRAMES FOR E.KTRACTING. 



Where empty combs are used, I put 

 only eight in the upper stories. If 

 comb foundation is used, it is better to 

 use nine or ten frames, till drawn out. 

 It is nicer to extract where only eight 

 frames are used in a ten-frame hive ; 

 there will be just about as much honey 

 stored in eight as in ten frames, and 

 it is easier to uncap, as the combs are 

 all thicker than the frames, and they 

 are less liable to be injured in extract- 

 ing, and probably are not used as soon 

 by the queen for brood. Fur various 

 r(^asons I prefer a full-sized frame for 

 upper stories — just the same as is used 

 in the brood-chamber. 



I'UTTING ON SURPLUS STORIES. 



If the intention is to prevent swarm- 

 ing, all strong colonies should have 

 the upjjer .sto-y put on about ten days 



or two weeks before the season opens. 

 It requires judgment and experience 

 to know where and when to put on the 

 second upper story. If the prospects 

 are good, and colonies are strong, it is 

 advisable to place the second upper 

 story on top of the first, wlien they 

 have about 15 or 20 pounds of honey 

 stored in it. (Have all colonies strong, 

 as it is a waste of labor to run weak 

 colonies for surplus.) 



Should the honey come in slowly, it 

 may be advisable to change the four 

 center combs of the upper story for the 

 outside ones, or remove them and put 

 empty ones in their places, filling other 

 stories with these partl_y-filled frames. 

 In an ordinary season, with good colo- 

 nies, there need be but little frame 

 manipulation. 



It is always advisable to give plenty 

 of room — more room than is needed 

 does not necessarily do any harm — 

 especially with large apiaries, and 

 with out-apiaries it is advisable to be 

 on the right side. If, however, the 

 tirst upper story is almost full, it is 

 better to put the second upper story 

 under it— I usually put it on top. One 

 reason is, the queen will be less liable 

 to use it for brood. If there is brood 

 in the first story, and it is raised, and 

 another put under it, the queen will 

 be almost sure to use it also, unless 

 honey is coming in very fast; if it is 

 put on top, she will probably not oc- 

 cupy it. 



Another reason is, it is hard work to 

 raise up partly-filled uppers, and one 

 of my rules in running large apiaries, 

 is never to do any work unless I am 

 sure that it will pay ; and never leave 

 anything undone that I think it would 

 pay to do. 



These upper stories hold about 50 

 pounds each, when full ; it is seldom 

 necessary to use more than two upper 

 stories, but I have used three ; usually 

 it is better to extract from tlie top 

 story, if the bees become crowded for 

 room. In most seasons, these two 

 stories will hold all the early or white 

 clover honey. 



WHEN TO EXTRACT THE HONEY. 



off. Usually, after the extracting is 

 all done, I scatter these cappings on a 

 large cloth under some shade-trees, 

 and let the bees remove what honey 

 there is left in them. It requires just 

 a little judgment in doing it, and it is 

 not advisable for a novice to trj^ this, 

 especially if there is no honey coming 

 in. I scatter about a bushel basket of 

 cappings at a time, and spread them 

 out thin. 



Usually, I do not extract until the 

 clover season is over, and then I ex- 

 tract both the upper stories at once. 

 To do the extracting, I prefer a four- 

 frame, reversible machine, to anything 

 that I have tried ; and for uncapping, 

 the Bingham knife is une(iualleil by 

 anything in the market. For a cap- 

 ping-can, I use a sawed-off barrel, 

 with a screen bottom, and a honey- 

 gate below it. 



In the morning, or before extracting 

 again, I remove the cappings from a 

 previous extracting, putting them in a 

 barrel so constructed that what little 

 honey may drain through can be i-un 



HO'W TO PROCEED IN EXTRACTING. 



As the extracting is usually done 

 when there is no honey coming in, it 

 requires considerable care not to get 

 robbing started. A good way to pro- 

 ceed, is to have a cart with a box just 

 wide enough to hang the frames in, 

 and about four feet long. This cart 

 will hold the frames from three or four 

 upper stories. As the frames are put 

 in, they are to be covered with a cloth, 

 if there are any robber bees about. 



In opening the hives, I smoke the 

 bees down as soon as the cover is 

 raised the least bit, then pry the frames^ 

 apart, and take out one and shake off 

 the bees into the open hive, and brush 

 off the remainder. It is well to have 

 a dish of water on hand, into which 

 the brush is dipped, if it becomes 

 sticky with honey, and for washing up 

 any honey that may be daubed about. 



When the cart is tilled, it is run into 

 the building where the extractor is ; 

 the other necessary utensils are about 

 two or more alcohol barrels, without 

 heads, with thin muslin or cheese-cloth 

 stretched loosely over the open end, 

 and held in place by the upper hoop ; 

 on this the honey is poured by the 

 bucketful, as it runs from the machine; 

 after standing over night, it is ready 

 for barrels or cans. It is best to leave 

 about six inches of honey in the bar- 

 rels, letting out the thickest at the 

 hottom. It the honey is not quite 

 ripe, it will improve by being left in 

 these barrels a short time ; but the 

 proper place to ripen honey is on the 

 hive. 



If robber bees are very bad, a tent 

 m.iy be used to advantage over the 

 cart, and hive which is being opened, 

 but it is very bothersome, and alive 

 man can get along nicely without it. 



Sometimes it is advisable to almost 

 close the entrance when removing 

 frames, till after the bees are quiet 

 again ; usually I take out the empty 

 frames and return tliem to the hives 

 when I go for another load. If rob- 

 bing has been started through care- 

 lessness, or otherwise, it is best to 

 leave the frames out of the hives till 

 evening, returning them about sunset. 

 Returning frames causes more com- 

 motion in a colony of bees, and in 

 other colonies, than taking them out— 

 usually only one set of frames are re- 



