November, 1907. 



Amc^rican l^ae Journal 



was no colony that had more than one 

 super to finish, and several had none. 

 These colonies that were left without 

 supers were the new swarms that were 

 still on one section of their hive. These 

 were now given their other section of 

 their hive. This gave them a week or 

 so of the last end of the honey-flow for 

 their own use, which put them in better 

 shape to build up for winter. 



During the time that this shifting was 

 going on, we kept in mind the fact that 

 some colonies were finishing up honey 

 faster than others, and these free-work- 

 ing colonies were given those supers 

 containing the most work to do. We 

 think we gained quite a considerable 

 time by doing this. 



It is a custom of ours to do lots of 

 this shifting of supers from colony to 

 colony. To illustrate, a colony that is 

 a little sulky about drawing out founda- 

 tion in the sections, will often finish up 

 and seal combs quite readily; takmg 

 advantage of this fact, we keep these 

 sulky fellows finishing up work. 



We had at this yard, about 35 new 

 swarms; 30 from the 84 comb honey 

 colonies, and 5 from the 84 worked for 

 extracted honey. This just made up 

 our loss through queenless colonies dur- 

 ing spring, and was about the number 

 we wanted. The first new swarms were 

 hived in one section of our shallow 

 hive, on combs where the bees had died 

 during spring. The sections were re- 

 moved from the parent colony, and giv- 

 en to the new swarm, on the old stand. 

 This was done immediately after hiv- 

 ing; and with this treatment, there was 

 not a single swarm absconded. To- 

 wards the last of the season, new 

 swarms were hived in the dead-colony 

 hives in the extracted honey yard; so 

 that the yard had the same number of 

 colonies in the fall that it had the pre- 

 vious fall. 



This about finishes the story, except 

 that Delbert stayed and finished harvest- 

 ing the crop of honey, and put it in 

 marketable shape. There were 2,300 

 pounds of No. i and fancy comb, and 

 6,000 pounds of extracted. This being 

 a poor season, the crop was short. Del- 

 bert also fed three or four barrels of 

 sugar to colonies short of winter stores. 

 This yard being located on the bank of 

 Rapid" river, one of Michigan's famous 

 trout streams, do not imagine for a 

 minute that producing honey was all we 

 did. 



Feeding Back to Get Partly-Filled 



Sections Completed at the Close 



OF THE Honey Season. 



Delbert came home the last week of 

 August, having been in this yard a lit- 

 tle over three months. My last, and 

 fifth visit was the 5th and 6th of No- 

 vember to put the bees into their win- 

 ter quarters. 



I mentioned above that there were 

 several supers that were not sealed and 

 in condition for the market at the close 

 of the season. In these last-filled, un- 

 finished sections, the part that is capped, 

 is very thin, or lean to look at, and were 

 they finished up and capped without the 

 cells being lengthened out, they would 

 not weigh more than 11 to 12 ounces; 

 and were we to feed to get them into 

 marketable shape, the unsealed portion 



would be drawn out to the regular 

 thickness, while the part that was capped 

 would be left untouched, thus making 

 a bad looking job. We remedy this by 

 uncapping the portion that is capped, 

 letting the bees do anew the whole job 

 of capping, and this gives us a good, 

 smooth, even surface — about the same 

 as they cap vidth a natural flow. It was 

 good enough, so that it went with the 

 rest, at 15 cents a pound, on the car here. 



Comparative Results in Extracted 



AND Comb Honey Production. 



The Comb Honey Yard. 



84 colonies at $4.50 $378.00 



16 empty hives and combs at 



$2,50 40.00 



300 supers complete at 50c 150.00 



Tools 10.00 



I honey house So. 00 



Total capital invested $628.00 



Interest on capital invested $37.68 



Wear and tear 37-68 



Rent and taxes 9-00 



3,000 sections 13-00 



30 pounds foundation at S4c 16.20 



150 shipping cases 22.00 



18 outside crates at 40c 7.20 



Work (estimated) 75-00 



Traveling expenses 20.00 



Total expenses $237-76 



Credits. 

 2,300 lbs. comb honey at 15c. .. .$345.00 

 1,000 lbs. extracted honey at 8c. 80.00 



15 lbs. wax at 30c 4-5o 



30 new swarms at $1.50 45-00 



Total receipts $474-50 



Expense items 237.76 



Percent of profit on capital invested, 

 37 2-3 percent. 



Extracted Honey Yard. 



84 colonies at $4 $336-00 



16 empty hives at $2 32.00 



170 upper sections and combs, $2. 240.00 



I four-frame extractor 20.00 



Tools 10-00 



I honey house 50.00 



Total capital estimated $788.00 



Interest on capital invested $47.28 



Wear and tear 47 ■''^ 



Rent and taxes 9-00 



42 cases of empty cans 21 .00 



Work (estimated) 25.00 



Traveling expenses 20.00 



Total expenses $160 56 



Credits. 

 5,000 lbs. extracted honey at 8c.. $400. 00 



50 lbs. wax at 30c 15-00 



5 new swarms at $1.50 7-5o 



Total receipts $422.50 



Expense items 169. s6 



Profits $252.94 



Percent of profit on capital invested, 

 a little over 32 percent. 

 Total income from both yards. .$897.00 

 Total expense items 407-32 



Total profit $489.68 



Total percent of profit on both yards, 

 about 34!^ percent. 



It will be remembered that the sea- 

 son of 1906, in the location -w^here this 



yard is located, was very poor; bee- 

 keepers getting only about half a crop. 

 Had the season been an ordinary one, 

 and we had harvested, say, double the 

 crop we did, many of the expense items 

 would have been considerably reduced; 

 that is, in proportion to the amount of 

 honey secured. Take the item of labor: 

 While there was plenty for one to do 

 a considerable of the time, at other 

 times there was little to do; and, had 

 the crop been double, just a little ex- 

 tra help at harvest time would have se- 

 cured it. This extra help, and extra 

 supplies would not have been anywhere 

 near as much expense, as would have 

 been gained in the larger crop of honey ; 

 while the items of interest, wear and 

 tear, rent and taxes, would be the same. 



I think this statement would be in- 

 complete, unless I told what my son 

 would often say, while working this 

 yard. The- expression would be some- 

 thing as follows; "I could have worked 

 five yards for extracted honey with the 

 same labor it took to produce this crop 

 of 2,300 pounds of comb honey." 



Remus, Mich., Jan. 21, 1907. 



— Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Honey Ripened on Hives, Etc. 



BY F. GREINER. 



In the October number of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal it is said that honey 

 improves if left on the hive to the end 

 of the season. Thousands of bee-keep- 

 ers of long experience, here and abroad, 

 have said so again and again, and 

 green honey has been severely con- 

 demned ever since I kept bees, if I re- 

 member rightly. We all know that 

 green honey not only lacks in body, but 

 it has not the fine flavor of well-rip- 

 ened honey of the same source ; it is 

 therefore very important that the honey- 

 producer exercises care in extracting. 

 The notes of warning Mr. Townsend 

 and Mr. Hutchinson sound should be 

 heeded, and we should at least not ex- 

 tract from the combs till all sealed. If 

 found necessary to extract from un- 

 sealed or partly unsealed combs, such 

 honey should be kept separate and sold 

 for less money. So far, so good. 



I would now ask the question : Has 

 any extensive experiment ever been 

 made which goes to show that honey, 

 after being sealed, improves with age 

 if left on the hive, say to the end of the 

 season? I am aware that comb-honey 

 has sometimes imparted to it a peculiar 

 — let me call it hive-flavor — if left on 

 the hive an unduly long time. This 

 flavor is somewhat objectionable to 

 many, but possibly not so to some oth- 

 ers. I very much doubt, however, that 

 the body and general qualities of honey 

 can be improved after it is sealed. I 

 have had honey sour on the hive during 

 the summer season and raise the cap- 

 pings. The bees sometimes remove a 

 part of such honey from those cells 

 which appear to contain the worst 

 honey, but even that which is left in 

 those combs by them has a sour taste 

 and smell. The bees seem to have no 

 way to improve it even if left on the 

 hive to the end of the honey season, 

 as Hutchinson, Townsend and Dadant 



