August, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



TH 

 til 



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HERE is no 



ime in the 

 b € ekeeper's 

 year so interest- 

 ing and so exhil- 

 arating as when 

 the swiftly re- 

 volving extractor 

 throws the lesson No. 7 



niultilude of tiny streams of golden honey 

 from the heavy combs. It is the realization 

 of the beekeeper's ambition — the culmina- 

 tion of his fondest hopes. 



A word of caution is necessary, for the 

 beginner in his eagerness may decide that 

 the honey is thick enough befoi'e it is sealed 

 over, and that all the hard work on the part 

 of the bees in capping the honey, and on his 

 own part in uncapping it afterward, may 

 jr.st as well be saved by extracting the combs 

 before they are sealed over. This is a 

 serious mistake, for the bees themselves are 

 the best judges of the ripeness of the honey ; 

 and since they do not seal it over until it 

 has reached the proper consistency it is far 

 safer to let them decide, and adopt the rule 

 of never extracting a comb that is not at 

 least three-fourths capped over on both 

 sides. If the honey is so nearly sealed, it is 

 safe to assume that the bees in the next few 

 hours will cap the rest. Perhaps the ma- 

 jority of the combs may be entirely sealed 

 over; but the beginner and professional bee- 

 keeper alike can not do better than resolve 

 never to extract a comb that is not at least 

 three-fourths sealed on both sides. 



Some beekeepers work from hand to 

 mouth, that is, they have not more than two 

 supers of extracting combs per colony; and 

 as soon as one super is nearly sealed over 

 they extract those combs in order to give 

 more room. This plan, while it requires a 

 less expensive equipment of supers and sur- 

 plus extracting-combs, requires more care- 

 ful watching and rather more time during 

 the honey-flow. Others go even so far as to 

 pick out two cr three full combs from a 

 super, extract them, and then put them back 

 again. If one has plenty of time at his 

 disposal there is, perhaps, no objection to 

 this ; but it can not be recommended as good 

 practice for one who wants to make the 

 most out of his business with the least ex- 

 penditure of labor. 



The other plan, to which there is no pos- 

 sible objection ex'^'ept the added firet cost of 

 the equipment, is that of leaving the honey 

 on the hives, tiering up super after super, 

 and then extracting the whole crop at one 

 time. Of course, where two honey-flows are 

 close together the extracting should be done 

 at the close of the first flow, so that the two 

 crops, if of different flavor and color, may 



BEGINNERS' Lessons 



H. H. Root 



^ 



not be mixed. If 

 the beginner is 

 looking t o t he 

 future and de- 

 sires to plan, ho 

 positively must 

 ^^^^js^ 3j , not yield to the 



-^^"""'^ temptation to get 



-extracting. ^,11 \,,^ 1^^,^-^y 



possible the first year. Instead of extract- 

 ing one or two combs in a super when they 

 are full, it is much better to allow the 

 bees to build new combs from full sheets 

 of wired foundation. This is one of the 

 very best forms of preparedness and a bit 

 of business foresight that the beginner 

 especially can not afford to overlook. 



UNCAPPING THE HONEY. 



Assuming that the combs have been freed 

 from bees by either of the plans given in 

 L3f son No. 6, the first work after a suitable 

 outfit has been prepared is to uncap the 

 combs. The uncapping-barrel, which was a 

 favorite form of eapping-receptacle of the 

 late W. Z. Hutchinson, is a practical, inex- 

 pensive outfit. This is pictured on page 542 

 of the July number. Cracker-barrels, 

 especially those without heads, are cheap 

 and they answer the purpose very well. 

 When one barrel is full of cappings, packed 

 down as tightly as possible, it may be 

 moved over another tub to drain still fur- 

 ther, and an empty barrel put in its place. 

 A somewhat more convenient arrange- 

 ment, and one not very much more expen- 

 sive, is the uncapping-box. shown in the 

 illustration accompanying this lesson. This 

 box ought to be about 19 inches wide, so 

 that the uncapped combs can be placed cor- 

 nerwise in one end before they are extracted. 

 In this way no extra paraphernalia is needed 

 to take care of the honey dripping from 

 these uncapped combs. The box may be 

 any convenient lenglh. A cross-piece with 

 a nail-point in the middle on which to rest 

 the combs furnishes a good support. 



The bottom of the box is covered with 

 heavy screen and supported from tho j»-al- 

 vanized iron tray by Vg-inch cleats nailed i 

 lengthwise. If preferred a larger number 

 of cleats can be nailed on, not over % inch 

 apart, and the screen dispensed with. 



In uncapping, it is always best to have 

 the bottom-bar of the frame nearest the 

 right hand, for the bottom-bar is narrower 

 than the top-bar, and the uncapping is, 

 therefore, easier. When one side is un- 

 capped, the comb should be reversed, there- 

 fore, end for end, instead of being merely 

 whirled around on the nail-point. 



There is a knack in uncajiping rapidly, 

 and this "knack" cannot be described nor 

 photographed. It is acquired onlv thru the 



