OCTOBER 15, 1916 



977 



two supers over the 

 lower brood-ehambers. 

 I have it so arranged 

 that the upper supers 

 are held by supports so 

 that the lower supers 

 may be removed with- 

 out disturbing the up- 

 per ones. 



The colonies winter 

 excellently with nothing 

 over the hives except 

 ^■ery thin covers and 

 blankets to retain the 

 heat. The combs are 

 always dry, and there is 

 never any mold nor 

 dampness whatever. 



Later on vfc expect to 

 start a number of out- 

 apiaries with these 

 buildings which permit 

 us to handle bees at any 

 time, rain or shine. 



May's Landing. N. J. 



The supers are independently supported. The under one may be 

 withdrawn if desired. 



HOLLAND HONEY AND HONEY CROPS 



BY J. H. J. HAMELBERG 



The majority of our beekeepers still using 

 the skep, it is not to be wondered that ex- 

 tractors are not very often found in this 

 country. The combs, cut out of skeps, not 

 being in frames, could be extracted only by 

 improvising some device to held them in 

 position in the extractor. This would entail 

 a considerable amount of labor, to say noth- 

 ing of the time it would take to uncap these 

 combs of all shapes and forms. Conse- 

 quently our beekeepers use other ways to 

 get the honey out of their combs; and the 

 products obtained by these methods are dis- 

 tinguished by '* leak " and " press " honey, 

 the former being the honey which drains 

 (leaks) from the combs while stored in some 

 vessel, the latter being obtained by putting 

 the combs under a press very similar to a 

 wax-press. This press honey is, of course, 

 much inferior to the drained honey, as it al- 

 ways contains pollen, and, unless the bee- 

 keeper has been very careful, the juice of 

 brood and dead bees as well. But it is ex- 

 cellent for feeding purpose?, and it also 

 seems to answer very well for making cakes, 

 as our bakers buy it readily. A good many 

 beekeepers, however, sell their honey in bulk 

 as chunk honey. 



Tlie comb honey and the extracted honey 

 on our markets are furnished by our modern 

 apiaries. It has been contended that there 



are a few beekeepers in this country who 

 import American or West Indian extracted 

 honey by the barrel, selling it afterward for 

 "pure inland;" but for the truth of this I 

 cannot voucli. When looking over the ship- 

 ping-lists of vessels having entered from 

 American or West Indian ports, one often 

 finds an item of so many barrels of honey, 

 but no one- ever seems to have taken the 

 trouble to trace the destination of such im- 

 ported honey, for which reason it would be 

 unfair to charge our beekeepers with the 

 above implied fraud. 



It cannot be said that we are a honey- 

 eating people, as, for instance, are the 

 Swiss. As yet very little honey is consum- 

 ed by the laboring and middle classes, it still 

 being considered somewhat as a luxury for 

 the Table of the rich. But then, very little 

 has been done until now to point out to the 

 people the value of honey as a food. 



Our extracted honey is put up in glass 

 jars of 1/4, V2, or 1 kilogram, and of late 

 fancy jars have also come in use, as, for in- 

 stance, in the shape and color of a straw 

 skep. The half-kilogram jars (1.1 lb.) are 

 most popular, and are sold by retail for 30 

 to 40 cts. each. 



Chunk honey is better appreciated by our 

 honey-consumers than comb honey in .sec- 

 tions; but a good many people prefer the 



