170 



THE AMEBIC AN APICULTURIST. 



How you Avill proceed in the fu- 

 ture depends upon whether you 

 wish your honey all ripened in tlie 

 hive till the harvest is over, or 

 ripened in a warm room by evapo- 

 ration. Sometimes I think that 

 honey left on the hive through the 

 season is of a better quality than 

 that extracted every week or so ; 

 then again lam not so sure about it. 

 Of one thing I am certain, more 

 honey can be secured with less 

 hives and fixtures where it is ex- 

 tracted when the bees first begin 

 to seal it, than can be gotten by the 

 other method. 



As to the labor there is little 

 difference, except that when we 

 extract often the labor comes at a 

 time of year when we are the most 

 crowded. To be sure the opera- 

 tion is gone through with oftener, 

 but to offset this there is little or 

 no uncapping to be done, while the 

 honey leaves the comb more clean 

 with less than one-half the labor 

 in turning the extractor. If the 

 season is warm and dry, I would 

 just as soon have hone}'^ extracted 

 as above as that left on the hive 

 the season through, but if cool 

 and damp I prefer it ripened all 

 that is possible by the bees, and 

 even then it is not as good as the 

 other. In my opinion the season 

 has more to do with the quality of 

 the honey than the process of ri- 

 pening. If we decide to extract 

 oftener, the hive we have already 

 added (if both contain two thou- 

 sand or more cubic inches) is 

 probably all the room the bees 

 Avill need, but if left on during the 

 season, one more and probably 

 two will be needed. In putting on 

 the third story I do not use the dum- 

 mies, for by this time the weather 

 has got so warm and the bees so 

 numerous that thc}'^ will spread 

 out so as to occupy the whole of 

 the extra hive. This hive should 

 be put on when the bees have the 

 combs in the second story sealed 



along the tops of the frames, or 

 soon after you would commence 

 extracting if working the other way. 

 Many say raise up the second sto- 

 ry and place this third hive be- 

 tween the two ; but after repeated 

 trials of both I prefer placing it 

 on top, for I think the bees will 

 occupy it just as quickly if the 

 honey flow continues, while if it 

 from any cause should be cutoff" at 

 this time or soon after, we are in 

 much better shape in not having 

 the honey scattered through the 

 three hives with few if any combs 

 full. If a. fourth story is needed, 

 put on the same as the third, when 

 after the season is over j'ou will 

 begin to carry the honey to the 

 honey house and extract. 



To get the honey off I find it is 

 the best way to go to a hive and 

 blow a perfect deluge of smoke 

 down on the bees from the top of 

 the combs, and as soon as the bees 

 have run below take off that story 

 and set it on your wheelbariow or 

 honey cart, not attempting to get 

 more than one story from one hive 

 at the same time ; for, if We do, the 

 bees will return to the next story 

 before you can get it off, wlien 

 smoke is of little use to drive 

 them. Before extracting save 

 plenty of good, full combs for 

 wintering and spring feeding. If 

 the weather is cool, when you wish 

 to extract, place the combs of 

 honey in a small room for three or 

 lour hours previous, in which the 

 temperature is kept as warm as 

 100°, when you can take them out 

 as you wish to uncap and extract 

 them, doing this work as easil}'^ as 

 on a hot (biy in July or August. 



Ill the above I have given a brief 

 outline of how I work for ex- 

 tracted honey, and as a proof that 

 it is an average plan at least, will 

 say that I have taken as high as 

 566 pounds of honey from a single 

 colony in one season. 



In conclusion I will say that 



