718 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



PRODUCING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Getting the bees ready for extracted 

 honey is much the same as for comb 

 honey. I will only add that we must 

 work to get the bees in time to catch the 

 harvest, and the bees will attend to the 

 gathering. But we can get extracted 

 honey from smaller or weaker colonies 

 than for comb. But I say, give me 

 great, big booming colonies for extracted 

 honey, too. Why, 14 years ago this 

 month (June) I had a colony of bees 

 gather 521 pounds of extracted honey 

 in 21 days. It was in a 5-story Sim- 

 plicity hive with 10 frames each, and 

 the bees could not enter at the one en- 

 trance, so I made three entrances, and 

 when we would shake the bees off the 

 combs on the ground, they were an inch 

 or two deep for a foot or more around 

 the hive. 



This seems like a " fishy tale," but 

 when explained, it is very reasonable to 

 an average bee-keeper. It was one of 

 the best queens I ever had, and a " dol- 

 lar queen " we then called her, from A. 

 I. Root, as all untested queens at that 

 time were called " dollar queens," as 

 that was the price they usually sold for. 

 Well, we had a good year, and a horse- 

 mint field within half a mile of my bees, 

 so thick that one could scarcely walk 

 through it, and I did uot allow this col- 

 ony to swarm, and the queen was very 

 prolific. At the time of our harvest this 

 colony was as large as five ordinary 

 colonies, which accounts for the big 

 yield. 



I have related the foregoing just to 

 show you what may be done when we 

 are up with the times, and willing to 

 work and make good use of the means 

 at our hands. I will only add a word 

 more about this colony, and say that it 

 gave me over 500 pounds of extracted 

 honey for three years in succession. I 

 trust that you may all draw a good les- 

 son here, and be up and doing at the 

 right time, and if a flow of honey comes, 

 be ready for it. 



In running for extracted honey, do 

 not worry about where the queen is lay- 

 ing. I would just as soon have her lay 

 in the top as the bottom story, and lil^e 

 her better if she is able to fill them all 

 with brood. I am willing to take the 

 honey from any part of the hive. 



I would advise you to use full-sized 

 stories, say eight frames each, at least, 

 Langstroth frame, which is the size I 

 use. But any good frame will do, so 

 that it is not larger than it ought to be 

 to handle easily, or too small to take 

 too many frames to accommodate the 



bees with room enough. Nothing pleases 

 me more than to have plenty of empty 

 combs for producing extracted honey, 

 as this sometimes gives us a good crop, 

 when if the bees have to build their 

 combs we miss a part of it. 



The hive I mentioned before was sup- 

 plied with frames of foundation (full 

 sheets), and it saved me at least 100 

 pounds of honey. 



I am a firm believer that comb foun- 

 dation will pay for itself twice, if given 

 to the bees at the proper time — especially 

 if we have no full drawn combs. The 

 latter is my preference. 



We will likely meet with years, and 

 sometimes two in succession, that we 

 will get but little honey, but I have not 

 failed to get some honey for 15 years, 

 that I remember, and I do not know a 

 season when we did not get honey — 

 some years more, and some less. 



I would let the honey get ripe, or be- 

 gin extracting about the time the bees 

 have the combs one-third sealed, and 

 this gives us some real ripe honey that 

 goes along with the little unripe, and 

 keeps all good, and no objection will 

 ever be raised by customers. But if we 

 extract too soon, we are likely to have 

 trouble both with our honey and custo- 

 mers, and ruin our market. But it saves 

 a lot of work to take the honey when 

 the combs are only about one-third 

 sealed over. 



During a honey-flow I take from 

 nearly or quite all the frames in the 

 hive, and I seldom damage any brood, 

 as I never turn fast enough to throw out 

 the little larviB, as it does not matter 

 whether we get the honey all out or not. 

 Our main object is to give the bees room. 



If care is used, no combs will be 

 broken while extracting, even if no 

 wires are used. But it is best to use 

 wire for extracting-combs. 



I will add here in this lesson that it is 

 best to use some kind of an extracting 

 house, or a place made of wire-cloth, or 

 something else that will be cool, and 

 still keep the bees out, as the smell of 

 the fresh honey draws the attention of 

 the bees, and they will bother more or 

 less, sooner or later, if we do not keep 

 them from getting a start. 



To conclude this lesson, I will say that 

 it is best to have a set of combs to start 

 with, as then you can close up each hive, 

 and will have to open it but once ; this 

 is an item where bees show a disposition 

 to rob, which they will do unless honey 

 is coming in very fast. What I mean by 

 an " extra set of combs " is, the same 

 number of combs empty that you will 



