120 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED HONEY 



April 



An Account of the Methods and Eq jipment for Extracted Honey Production 

 in Use by Some Well-Known Colorado Beekeepers 



By Frank C. Pellett. 



IN our November number, comb- 

 honey production under Colorado 

 conditions was discussed some- 

 what at length. Not all Colorado 

 beekeepers produce comb honey, 

 however. There are several men en- 

 gaged in the production of extracted 

 honey on a large scale. Considering 

 the fact that the markets have fa- 

 vored the production of extracted 

 honey for the past few years, one 

 wonders why more of the big bee- 

 keepers are not engaged in produc- 

 ing extracted rather than comb 

 honey. Colorado beekeepers have 

 developed the first selling organiza- 

 tion for handling honey which earned 

 large success. This is perhaps due to 

 the fact that there are a larger pro- 

 portion of the beekeepers of that 

 State engaged on an extensive scale 

 than is the case elsewhere and that 

 most of their product is sold in dis- 

 tant markets. Such conditions dis- 

 courage individual marketing. The 

 honey sent out by the association is 

 uniformly graded and bears a good 

 reputation in the eastern markets. 



In visiting eastern markets the 

 writer has occasionally heard of a 

 shipment of comb honey from some 

 point in Colorado which has granu- 

 lated in the combs. Granulated comb 

 honey is a difficult product to move, 

 and for a time it was a mystery why 

 the comb honey from some localities 

 should granulate so very quickly. In 

 many places in that State the gum- 

 plant or rosin-weed (Grindelia squar- 

 rosa), is common. The honey from 

 this plant granulates very quickly, 

 sometimes even before it is removed 

 from the hive. There are few reports 

 of much surplus from this plant, but 

 it is usually mixed with honey from 

 other sources. Where a little gum- 

 weed or rosin-weed honey is mixed 

 with the crop from alfalfa the whole 

 is likely to candy in the comb before 



Settling tanks in basement of Sutton's honey house. 



it reaches the consumer. The honey 

 from gum-weed is yellow and of in- 

 ferior quality. At the Association 

 grading stations its presence is likely 

 to be discovered, but small shipments 

 from isolated locations occasionally 

 reach the market. If the writer were 

 in a gum-weed location he would cer- 

 tainly produce extracted honey rather 

 than be subject to the annoy nee of 

 constantly watching to avoid the 

 spoiling of the grade of a nice crop of 

 comb honey through the mi.xture of a 

 little nectar from this plant. 



One prominent comb-honey pro- 

 ducer spent considerable time and 

 money in making over comb-honey 

 equipment for the production of ex- 

 tracted honey last year. After pro- 



Sutton's honey house and sign. 



ducing one crop he is now spend- 

 ing time and money to fi-x it up 

 for comb honey again this season. 

 Some men who are experts in the 

 production of comb honey can never 

 be quite content with anything else. 

 On the other hand, men who are 

 eminently successful in producing a 

 fine article of extracted honey are 

 not interested in honey in sections. 

 Up-to-Date Equipment 



At Loveland and Fort Collins are 

 several beekeepers with the latest 

 equipment for extracted honey pro- 

 duction on a large scale. At Love- 

 land I called on J. C. Aikin, brother of 

 the late R. C. Aikin, who was a well 

 known contributor to the bee maga- 

 zines of the past. M. Aikin and his 

 son who had recently returned from 

 the army, very kindly took me in their 

 car and we drove out to see the bee- 

 keepers near by. After a short visit 

 with Homer Lovesee, a former Iowa 

 man who has about 100 colonies in 

 town, we went to see K. E. Sutton, 

 who has several hundred colonies in 

 outyards around Lovcla-id. We found 

 Sutton and his crew hard at work ex- 

 tracting which gave us an opportu- 

 'lity to study his equipment in opera- 

 tions. 



His honey house is 16.x32 and has 

 the word "Honey" painted across the 

 front for the full length. This can be 

 seen from the main road for a dis- 

 tance of about a mile. A sign board 

 has been erected at one end to make 

 room for the word "Eat", so that it 

 now reads "Eat Honey", as will be 

 seen by the accompanying picture. 



The building is provided with a 



