Junm:, 10-2? 



G \j V. A N I N G S I \ B ]■; li C U L T IT R E 



375 



iniiiuti' we (MinsiiU'r il impossible to oxtrucl 

 tliick honey, at a temperature of 7.1 or SO 

 ilejjrees, in less than four minutes in the 

 extractor, and 5 and even G minutes at so 

 low a speed is better. There is no (|uestion 

 in my mind but that a speed of 350 revolu- 

 tions per minute is safe so far as comb 

 breakage is concerned, provided one uses or- 

 dinary care in handling the extractor, and 

 that this speed is a great timesavcr in the 

 long run. Even at this high speed we do 

 not break new combs, but we usually re- 

 verse twice Avhile the reel is speediiTg up, 

 so that most of the honey is out by the time 

 it readies full speed. Ordinarily, we reverse 

 only once more, making three reversings in 

 all. For the last reversing we usually use 

 the brake slightly first, althougli in case of 

 old comlis 1 do not consider tliis necessary. 

 How to Tell when Most of the Honey is Out 

 of the Combs. 

 Our experience has shown that it is not 

 safe to assume that combs are dry just be- 

 cause they look dry. If the angle of the 

 bases of the cells when viewed in a good 

 light appear sharp and distinct, it is rea- 

 sonably safe to assume that there is not 

 much more than 3 per cent of honey left in 

 the combs. If there is enough honey left in 

 tlie cells to obscure the base angles so that 

 the bottom of the cell appears round in a 

 good light, it is my belief that 10 to 15 

 and perhaps 20 per cent of the available 



lioiu'v is left in tlie combs. It is more dif- 

 ficult to Judge the amount of honey left iji 

 old combs, because it is liarder to see the 

 liottoms of tlu! cells and because the cocoons 

 obscure the angles. A good speed and at least 

 three minutes in a full-speed reversing ex- 

 tractor at 75° to 80° need not leave over 3 

 ])er cent of honey in the combs even if the 

 lioney is thick. If the honey is thin I am 

 confident that the amount is somewhat less, 

 although our experience with the honey at 

 100 degrees shows that it is unsafe to take 

 anything for granted. 



While it is an exceedingly difficult matter 

 to prove, it is certainly a fallacy to assume 

 that none of the honey left in the cells is 

 wasted. It is true that the bees put new 

 honey on top of honey not entirely extract- 

 ed, but it is also true that in many instances 

 wet combs put back on the hives excite the 

 bees and cause "gorging." In my opinion, 

 at least one-half of the honey left in tlie 

 combs is wasted. At the end of the season 

 especially, it is very desirable to have the 

 combs as dry as possible to avoid the nuis- 

 ance of having the bees clean them out. 



I feel that this is a subject we know too 

 little about today, and one that every bee- 

 keeper should make a special study of dur- 

 ing the coming season. If I am wrong, 

 someone should set me right; there are 

 good beekeepers who take the opposite view, 

 but let us have facts and not fancies. 



FIFTY YEARS' EXPERIENCE 



IV hat It Has Taught About the 

 Control of S^warming in Comb- 

 Honey Production 



By J. E. Crane 



IT is of the con- 

 trol of the 



swarming im- 

 pulse of which I 

 wish to ^\Tite 

 rather than the 

 p r e V e n tion of 

 swarming, a n d 

 especially in the 

 p r o d u ction of 

 comb honey. It is a comparatively simple 

 matter in producing extracted honey to con- 

 trol swarming, but when we come to comb 

 honey it is quite another story. 



The problem can be briefly stated in this 

 way. Here is a yard of 50 or 100 colonies. 

 How can they be kept at work to the best 

 advantage during the honey flow? 



I write, supposing we are to visit the yard 

 onh' once in eight or nine days as we do in 

 the case of our own outyards. Perhaps 1 

 can not do better than to invite the reader 

 to go with me as we work; you can look on 

 and receive instruction while I work. 

 When to Remove all the Brood. 



We open the first hive we come to. It is 

 strong and has a vigorous queen reared last 

 year. We notice it is holding up tvork in 

 supers and on examination find it has queen- 

 cells with larvae three or four days old. 

 There is no mistaking the bees' intentions. 

 We will at once remove their brood-combs, 



giving dry combs 

 or combs that 

 have some hon- 

 ey in them. If 

 we are short of 

 combs we give 

 two combs and 

 fill out with 

 frames of foun- 

 dation. If we 

 were to shake them on to all foundaiion, they 

 might desert the hive in disgust. Now we 

 replace the supers and close up, and go to 

 the next hive. The colony we have treated 

 we expect will give us as much or more sec- 

 tion honey, and have the brood-chamber bet- 

 ter filled than it would if it had made no 

 l^reparation for swarming. 



What to Do With Removed Brood. 

 In the next hive we open we find conditions 

 quite different. It is making no prepara- 

 tion for swarming; -in fact, we find three 

 combs in the brood-chamber without brood, 

 although it is starting in the supers. We 

 will remove these three broodless combs 

 containing a good deal of honey, and give 

 this colony three good combs of maturing 

 brood ill place of its combs of honey. Tliis 

 will build it up so we may expect a good 

 sur])lus from it. 



The next hive we open is a nucleus we 

 started earlier in the season with a choice 



