40 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



the hive where they belong. Do 

 this for three or four niglits and uU 

 will learn to stay. 

 Montague, Mass. 



From American Dee Journal. 



COMB HONE Y vs. EX- 

 TRACTED HONEY. 



R. L. Taylor. 



Read before tlie Micliigiin Keekeepers' As- 

 sociation at East Saginaw, Dec. 8, IhST. 



The advantages to the apiarist 

 of producing one kind of honey, 

 rather than the other, depends up- 

 on his tastes and circumstances. 

 Our choice in all the ordinary, not 

 to say the most momentous tilings 

 in life, is controlled largely by our 

 tastes; and tliis controlling influ- 

 ence will generally be felt when 

 we come to decide whether we shall 

 make it our business to produce 

 comb honey or extracted honey, 

 and it is highly proper that this 

 should be so. 



Every one docs that best which 

 he likes best. 1 like best the pro- 

 duction of comb honey, and my 

 mind involuntarily pictures to it- 

 self superior neatness and comfort, 

 and greater ease and more equable 

 division of the labor of the season 

 among the days, as appertaining 

 to this branch ; but while I con- 

 tinue to like this best, I must con- 

 fess that when I sit down and lis- 

 ten calmly to reason, it is ditlicult 

 to find any great ditference in these 

 respects. ISo there is no account- 

 ing for tastes ; nevertheless, they 

 should be consulted, for though 

 they cannot be voluntarily created, 

 yet they are largely formed in re- 

 sponse to the necessities of exist- 

 ing conditions ; and in these con- 

 ditions, which, in the absence 

 of a decided bias, must be con- 

 sulted in order to determine wheth- 



er it is better for any particular 

 individual to devote his apiary to 

 the productiou of comb hone}' or 

 of extracted honey. 



Now, what these conditions are, 

 it is of interest to all apiarists to 

 know ; and as I view it, the chief 

 among them are the following, 

 namely: existing appliances, the 

 quality of the honey produced, the 

 season when it is obtained, and 

 the character of the home market. 



Of course, if an apiarist is sup- 

 plied with the appliances neces- 

 saiy for the advantageous produc- 

 tion and the care of comb honey, 

 he should be ver3'slow to incur the 

 exi)enses incident to a complete 

 change of these for those adapted 

 to the production of extracted 

 honey and vice versa. 



Second!}', choice in the matter 

 should often be influenced by the 

 (luality of the honey produced. It 

 is seldom best to undertake the 

 production of comb honey unless 

 it is to be white and of good qual- 

 ity. Dark comb honey is almost 

 alvva3's a drug in the market and 

 sells generally at a low price — so 

 low that when the increased 

 amount of extracted honey that can 

 be produced, is taken into account, 

 the latter will be found to bring 

 easily the more money. 



Next, it is to be remembered 

 that in the earl}^ months of the 

 season the bees produce wax free- 

 ly and work it readily, while later 

 in the season they are rather slow 

 to do either ; and the resulting fact 

 is, that with the otherwise equal 

 opportunities they will usually 

 store much more hone}' during the 

 first part of the season than thir- 

 ing the last, if they are obliged 

 to build the comb in which to store 

 it ; so it will generally be found 

 more profitable to use combs for 

 extracting in which to secure the 

 fall nectar. 



Lastly, the character of the home 

 market is to be considered. I 



