16 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1921 



the bees have been drummed out it is a 

 simple matter to remove the combs of 

 brood and put them into fraines. 



I want to introduce you to some of Mr. 

 Warner's helpers. After considerable per- 

 suasion I got them in front of my Graflex, 



and the result is shown in Fig. 2. I call 

 attention in particular to Mr. Ladd, the 

 man who seems to be built just right to 

 handle 13-frame hives. You would say that 

 he is the Ladd that could do the trick if 

 you could see him in action (Fig. 3). 



COMB HONEY PRODUCTION 



WHEN the 

 honey - ex- 

 tractor 

 first came into 

 use, beekeepers 

 quickly discov- 

 ered that greater 

 yields are se- 

 cured when the 

 combs are emp- 

 tied and return 

 ed to the bees 

 to be refilled; 



than when the bees are compelled to build 

 new comb each time. The honey-extractor 

 was at that time heralded as a means of 

 more than doubling the yield per colony, 

 because after the combs were once built, 

 the bees were saved trouble of further 

 comb-building. 



Later, when comb foundation was in- 

 vented, it was thought that its use would 

 be practically equivalent to the use of 

 empty combs for surplus honey, and that 

 this new product would enable the bees to 

 store practically as much comb honey as 

 extracted honey. In this beekeepers were 

 disappointed, and it is now generally agreed 

 that greater yields are secured when pro- 

 ducing extracted honey. No agreement, 

 however, has ever been reached as to just 

 how much more extracted honey a colony 

 will prodiice than comb honey. 



Cost of Wax Production and Comb 

 Building. 



In most of the discussions of this subject 

 tlie difference in the yield for the two types 

 of honey is attributed to the amount of 

 honey tliat is consumed in the elaboration 

 of wax for comb-building. Some of the ear- 



Spirit of Workers Most Important. 

 Cost of Wax Production. Condi- 

 tions Under Which Yields of Comb 

 Honey May Nearly Equal That of 

 Extracted 



By Geo. S- Demuth 



duced to one 

 pound of comb 

 honey. When full 

 sheets of foun- 

 dation are used 

 in the sections 

 the amount of 

 wax thus fur- 

 nished is about 

 one pound for 

 each 100 pounds 

 of honey; but, to 

 offset this, con- 

 siderable wax is used in extracted-honey 

 production in elongating cells and capping 

 the honey- 



The ratio of two pounds of extracted 

 honey to one pound of comb honey is prob- 

 ably not far from correct as an average for 

 all localities, all seasons, and all beekeep- 

 ers; but, in some locations during favorable 

 seasons, the skilled comb-honey producer 

 secures nearly as much comb honey per col- 

 ony as extracted honey. This has led to a 

 revision downward of the amount of honey 

 supposed to be required to produce a pound 

 of wax, which present-day authorities put 

 at from six to twenty pounds. 



Involuntary Wax-Secretion. 

 It is believed by many that a consider- 

 able amount of wax is secreted during a 

 good honey flow whether it is needed or not, 

 and some writers have contended that under 

 certain conditions much of th,is wax is 

 wasted if the bees are not given an oppor- 

 tunity to build comb. One of the first indi- 

 cations of the beginning of the honey flow 

 is the appearance of new wax, used to 

 elongate some of the cells or plastered 

 around in lumps on the combs and frames in 



lit'st experiments in wax production indi- the upper part of the hive. Young bees, just 



<'ated that 20 pounds of honey are con- 

 sumed by the bees in the production of one 

 pound of wax. For a long time this was ac- 

 cepted as the true figure. Since comb suf- 

 .flcient to hold 100 pounds of honey contains 

 from four to five pounds of wax, the bees, 

 in secreting the wax necessary to build this 

 amount of comb, would consume nearly an 

 additional 100 pounds of hone}-, if the ratio 



before they become field workers, apparent- 

 ly secrete wax readily when they fill them- 

 selves with raw nectar, as they do during a 

 good honey flow, and when combs are not 

 needed. Even field bees often have tiny wax 

 scales protruding from their wax pockets 

 when caught as they are working on the 

 flowers. 



During more recent years many producers 



of 20 pounds of honey to one pound of wax of extracted honey have been cutting deeper 



is assumed to be correct — to say nothing of into the comb when uncapping. One object 



the time and energy used by the bees in se- of this is the production of wax at but little 



creting the wax and building the comb. cost, the theory being that the wax needed 



From this, as well as from actual results to elongate the cells when the combs are 



year after year in producing the two types given back to the bees would otherwise be 



of honey it waS' believed by many that two wasted during a heavy honey flow especially 



pound? of es;tracte(3 Jioney could be pro- in colonies having an abundance of young 



