THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



55 



tion and liow to handle it ; conse- 

 •ciiiently, tliey Inuulle them as they 

 would any other box, and the result 

 is that they now and then cracli: out 

 a comb or set the honey to leaking, 

 become disgusted, and refuse to lian- 

 <lle lioney. ICvery one should appre- 

 •ciate tlie" I'act tliat, in order to create ' 

 a steady and uniform market, it is 

 necessary to put honey on the market 

 in such packages -is will cause tlie 

 grocerymen the least trouble in re- 

 tailing". We stiould make it for their 

 interest to handle it, when they will 

 take pains to increase the demand. 



Jint suppose tiie lioney gets into the 

 hands of the consumer in good shape, 

 what then';:' Perhaps he steps into 

 several stores on his way home, and 

 in setting his box down he is very 

 liable to hit one corner lirst; before 

 he gets home, he may llnd his lioney 

 leaking all over him. I'ut yourself 

 in his place and see how you would 

 like it. Do you think you would 

 want to buy aiiy more in such a box? 

 I am sure I should not. 



In regard to the appearance of the 

 all-in-one-piece sections. I must say 

 that if accurately made they are 

 very handsome. If the corners are 

 glued, the second objection is done 

 <iway with, but as this will require a 

 great deal of time and care, it will 

 only serve to strengthen the lirst 

 objection. 



Coleraine, Mass. 



For tile Americau Bee Journal. 



Extracted Honey— ;No. 2. 



JAMES HEDDOX. 



The question is frequently asked, 

 " which class of honey production 

 pays best — comb or extracted V" In 

 reply, one writer argues in favor of 

 comb, and another in favor of ex- 

 tracted honey. Each produces some 

 arguments that are valid, and make 

 us wish we were devoted exclusively 

 to his choice. 



Answering that question, from a 

 stand-point of the present, I would 

 say that the difference in the nature 

 of" the production, and present mar- 

 ket value of each class, is so slight, 

 that greater reasons for a choice lie 

 in the adaptability of your climate, 

 flora, market, and your natural choice 

 in the different styles of labor con- 

 nected with them. 



Owing to the successful employ- 

 ment of our best comb foundation, I 

 think that I prefer comb honey pro- 

 ■duction ; however, if I start another 

 apiary, which I shall do ere many sea- 

 sons, instead of dealing in supplies 

 (if my trouble of poisoning from the 

 bees improves as it is now doing), I 

 shall devote it exclusively to extracted 

 honey. I will tell you the reason why, 

 and this will touch the third part of the 

 subject — marketing. 



From the length of time that I have 

 •been engaged in the business, and the 

 amount of shipping and jobbing of 

 honey I have done, I am continually 

 receiving orders from abroad, and 

 some of these are for extracted honey. 

 To hold this trade, it is really neces- 

 :3ary to keep an assortment of styles 



on hand. But I am not going to mix 

 the two classes of production together 

 in one apiary. I see little good, and 

 a great deal of damage, in such a 

 course. The extractor (a thing no 

 man should be without), used in the 

 comb honey apiary, will be used only 

 in cases of emergency, as a mechani- 

 cal necessity, ami to empty the partly 

 lilled sections in the fall. 



If all my honey crop was to be sold 

 at wholesale, I should choose which 

 class 1 would produce, and become a 

 specialist in that class, were I running 

 a dozen apiaries. 



Comparing the in-otits of the two 

 classes of iiroduction, in the near 

 future, I have no reasons for any 

 choice, in the probable prices. Both 

 will be levelled to the cost of produc- 

 tion with our necessary margin ad- 

 ded, if such is not already the case. 

 For the production of extracted honey, 

 as for both kinds. I should start in an 

 unoccupied field, or not at all. I 

 should try to form some sort of an es- 

 timate of the amount of nectar annu- 

 ally secreted on an average, within my 

 area of say six miles diameter. Next, 

 of about how many colonies working 

 in this field would give me the most 

 surplus honey. 



Both of the above problems are 

 very knotty, and there is no doubt but 

 that less has been learned, for the 

 amount that has been said about 

 them, than about any and all others, 

 the wintering (iroblem thrown in. All 

 I can say is, notice that nearly all the 

 large percentages of increase and sur- 

 plus that are reported are from small 

 numbers of colonies. We often see 

 " from 10 to 70 colonies and 1,'200 lbs. 

 of surplus and how I did it,"' but we 

 never see from lOU to 700 colonies and 

 12.000 lbs. of surplus, unless it ends 

 with, '• how I didn't do it.'' 



The one who looks over the field 

 must form the conclusion as to the 

 best number of colonies to keep, for 

 the best results, and then "cut and 

 try " till he is satisfied. 



Lay ont a yard large enough to hold 

 the maximum number of colonies you 

 expect ever to keep in that locality, 

 and put a tight board fence around it, 

 6 or 8 feet high, and if in an exposed 

 position to thieves or meddlesome 

 boys, run 2 strands of sharp barbed 

 wire all around over the fence, about 

 S inches above the fence, and the 

 upper one 10 inches above the lower 

 one. Make at least four gates, and 

 one capacious building on the south 

 side of the apiary. This will give 

 you a cool front, and you can see the 

 bees tly, when swarming or otherwise, 

 plainer against the northern sky. 

 Have a well close to this building, and 

 keep two extra pails and a Whitman 

 fountain inimp always in readiness, 

 for any straggling swarms that come 

 along, or any of yours that might 

 attempt to abscond. The pump is par 

 excellence to keep two swarms from 

 mixing, that might come ont together. 

 With this pump, we one year caught 

 two swarms that came along, that no 

 other device could have arrested, be- 

 sides stopping 4 of our own that at- 

 tempted to leave us — all that tried to 

 go tliat season. 



Have the floor of your building of 



dressed lumber, if you can afford it, 

 matched, and of hard wood, at least 

 under, around and about your ex- 

 tractor. Have that extractor fastened 

 solid to the tloor, and to the wall at 

 one side. I much prefer the overhand 

 motion of turning gear, and like the 

 Excelsior the best of any machine I 

 have ever seen on the market. Have 

 a broad shelf, about 8 feet high handy 

 to the extractor, and a drip pan for 

 cappings. We have used one on the 

 same iirinciple. though smaller, as the 

 one described by ('has. Dadant & Son, 

 in back number of the Bee .Journal, 

 with wire-cloth middle, and pan be- 

 low to catch drips. 



Many other details might be men- 

 tioned, but I will pass on to the hive 

 for extracted honey. I know the hive 

 question is one about which there is 

 much prejudice, so I will -'touch 

 lightly" and simply give you my 

 jn'eferences. I would use the same 

 hive (and have used it for taking 

 honey in the extracted form) that I 

 do for comb honey, viz : the S-frame 

 Langstroth. I have tried the 10-frame 

 extensively for extracted, as well as 

 comb honey, as I have also the one- 

 story hive, and while I am aware that 

 there are some strong points in favor 

 of the one-story, yet there is, I think, 

 more in favor of the 8-frame Lang- 

 stroth hive. With the upper story for 

 combs of the same size out of which 

 to take all of the honey that we 

 extract. It will be found unnecessary 

 to go down into the brood-chamber, or 

 hive proper, for surplus, if the ar- 

 rangement is right. I have discarded 

 metal rabbets for the hive, but for the 

 super out of which we extract, I al- 

 ways nse them, in conjunction with 

 flat, wood top-bars, but never metal 

 coiners. 



I think no sounder advice can ever 

 be given than to say. nse only the 

 standard Langstroth frame, have all 

 combs built on full sheets of worker 

 foundation on wires. If you have all 

 worker combs below you surely must 

 above, or the queen will present you 

 a lot of up-stairs drone brood. I al- 

 wavs nse a thoroughly perforated 

 horiev board (of a peculiar construc- 

 tion, which cannot well be described 

 here), that is adapted to a super that 

 is suited to the hive, without any 

 honey board, as well as with. At first 

 I sometimes, on some colonies, adjust 

 the super without the board, but ad- 

 just the board the first time round to 

 extract. The presence of this board 

 also facilitates the handling of the 

 frames wonderfully, and at the same 

 time has a tendency to dissuade the 

 queen from going aloft. In the hive 

 I use 8 combs, within the space of 

 llji inches. In the supers of the 

 saine space (after the foundation is 

 drawn out into comb) I nse seven. 



We now have the super ready, and 

 supposing that some of the colonies 

 and the field are ready for surplus 

 storing, we lift the hive cover and ad- 

 just the second story or super ; place 

 the same cover on the super, and turn 

 your pins in the surplus honey regis- 

 ter, one to the date, and the other to 

 " emnty,'' and then wait patiently till 

 time to examine it. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Jan. 9, 1882. 



