746 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



When hived upon toundatiou. the 

 bees could store uo honey in the 

 brood -nest until the foundation was 

 ■drawn out, and as soon as a few cells 

 were even partly drawn out. the queen 

 was ready with her eggs ; and, as the 

 bees had access to the surplus boxes, 

 they began storing honey in them, 

 leaving the brood-combs to the queen. 

 The bees seemed to reason and act 

 about as follows : " Downstairs is 

 the place for the brood, and there it 

 shall be ; upstairs is the place for the 

 honey, and there will we put it." 

 When given empty combs they seemed 

 to say: "Here are the combs all 

 ready made for us, let us fill them." 

 And hll them they did, aft«r which, 

 to a certain extent, they appeared to 

 consider their tasks at an end. 



Where bees begin to work when 

 first hived, there they continue to 

 work until the space which they 

 occupy is filled ; and to commence 

 work in an adjoining apartment when 

 the season is partly over, seems to be 

 contrary to their instincts ; hence. I 

 think that bee-keepers make a mis- 

 take when they wait a week or ten 

 days, yes, or even 24 hours before put- 

 ting boxes on a hive containing a 

 newly-hived swarm. Put on tlie 

 boxes at once, before the swarm is 

 put into the hive, and let them go 

 unto the boxes when they are hived, 

 and commence work there and in the 

 brood apartment at the same time ; 

 then there will be no crowding the 

 brood- combs with honey. 



When a swarm is hived upon empty 

 frames, there can be no honey stored 

 in the brood apartment until comb is 

 built ; and as fast as it is built, the 

 queen fills it with eggs while the 

 honey is stored above in the surplus 

 department. Let a swarm be hived 

 upon empty frames, and be given 

 access to the surplus boxes, and in a 

 week or ten days after let an exami- 

 nation be made ; if the bee-keeper's 

 experience, who does this, is like my 

 own, he will find the frames full of 

 ■combs, the combs full of brood, and 

 the surplus boxes full of honey. 



I believe that the time is not far 

 distant when we will have the brood 

 in one part of the hive, and the honey 

 in another to a much greater degree 

 than at present; then nearly all the 

 honey which is stored will be "in shape 

 to be sold at a good price, and nearly 

 empty brood-combs, that autumn will 

 find in the hives, can be filled by cheap- 

 er but better winter food, sugar syrup. 



In hiving bees upon empty frames, 

 and immediately giving them access 

 to boxes filled with foundation, or 

 with partly-finished combs. I have 

 found a queen-excluding honey-board 

 a necessity ; otherwise the queen 

 would at once invade the sections. 

 Although I have made no experi- 

 ments, at least no very extensive or 

 conclusive ones, yet I think that the 

 use of comb foundation in sections is 

 profitable. We desire to have combs 

 built in the sections very quiojvly. at 

 least as fast as the bees can Hll them 

 with honey, and there is no question 

 but what the use of foundation facili- 

 tates the building of comb. 



In the brood-nest, when working 

 for comb honey, we, or at least I. wish 



to have the combs built no faster than 

 the queen can occupy them with eggs. 

 It has been asserted that the secretion 

 of wax is voluntary with the bees ; 

 that when given foundation they 

 secrete but little wax comparatively ; 

 hence, the inference is drawn that the 

 use of comb foundation is profitable 

 in all places. I have neither the 

 power nor the desire to disprove the 

 statements in regard to the secretion 

 of wax ; the question with us is : 

 •' Does it pay to use comb foundation 

 in the brood-nest when producing 

 comb honey V" It is probable that, in 

 producing extracted honey, its use is 

 jsrofitable ; but my limited experience 

 says : " When producing comb honey, 

 hive swarms upon empty frames, and 

 give the bees access at once to the 

 surplus department." Of course " one 

 swallow does not make a summer," 

 but one experiment, such as I have 

 made, proves enough, at least, to 

 show that the subject is worthy of 

 consideration and careful experiment, 

 which I shall certainly give it during 

 another season. 



Since writing the above it has oc- 

 curred to me that in producing ex- 

 tracted honey, it might be profitable 

 to hive a swarm in a hive, the brood 

 department of which is furnished 

 with empty frames, and the surplus 

 department with foundation, a queen- 

 excluding honey-board being placed 

 between the two departments. 



Kogersville, Mich. 



Excbaoge. 



Extracted Honey. 



KEV. O. CLTJTE.*0 



All people know the excellence and 

 the beauty of comb honey. It is in 

 need of no praise. But extracted 

 honey is a new article with which 

 many people are not familiar. They 

 have never seen its lovely amber gleam 

 from the glass on the tea-table ; they 

 have never caught its delicate aroma, 

 " fragrant as spicy winds that blow 

 o'er Araby the blest;" they have 

 never tasted its delicious flavor, com- 

 pounded by the fastidious bees from 

 nectar gathered from fiowers of wood- 

 land and field. The only liqujd honey 

 with which they are familiar is the 

 old-fashioned "strained honey," which 

 was taken by mixing comb, and bee- 

 bread, and dead bees and dead larviB 

 into a sticky mass, and straining from 

 it all the liquid which could be ob- 

 tained by pressure. This liquid con- 

 tained the juices of bee-bread and 

 bees and larvae as a flavoring for the 

 dark, rank honey which this squeezing 

 process secured. Such honey was 

 coarse in flavor, and most repulsive in 

 associations. If extracted honey were 

 of the same quality it would deserve 

 no favor. But it" is as different in 

 quality as anything can possibly be. 



Extracted honey is honey in its pur- 

 est condition, exactly as gathered by 

 the bees, without any foreign admi.x- 

 ture whatever. All day long, week 

 after week, do the happy bees revel 

 among the clover blooms, or in the 

 nectar-laden chalices of the lofty lin- 

 den trees, or among the many flowers 



that in fall cover hills and valleys 

 with brilliant hues. When their hives 

 tiave become heavy with luscious 

 stores the careful bee-keeper prepares 

 to take the stores, but in such a way 

 as not to injure his " faithful friends," 

 the bees. He opens the hives, removes 

 the cloth that covers the frames of 

 comb, and directs a stream of smoke 

 from the smoker in his hand, dovra 

 upon the bees. Before the smoke they 

 rapidly retreat toward the bottoms of 

 the combs. He lifts out a comb, 

 heavy with its sweet store, and cov- 

 ered at its bottom with the alarmed 

 bees. He gives the comb a sudden 

 and swift jerk downward and thus 

 dislodges most of the bees, which fall 

 into the hive. If any bees still cling 

 to the comb he brushes them off with 

 a swift, light stroke with a common 

 whisk broom, then hangs the comb in 

 a carrier by his side. So he takes 

 comb after comb until all are taken 

 that he desires. These he carries to 

 the extracting room. Then, resting a 

 comb on a light frame placed on an 

 empty barrel, he shaves off the cap- 

 pings of the cells with a sharp knife 

 made for the purpose. When the 

 combs are uncapped they are ready 

 for the extractor. 



The extractor is made in several 

 different styles. In all styles the prin- 

 ciple is the same. Everybody knows 

 that water poured on the surface of a 

 rapidly whirling grindstone flies from 

 the surface by the motion imparted to 

 it by the whirling stone. The honey- 

 extractor is a machine which utilizes 

 this centrifugal force by so applying 

 it that it throws the honey from the 

 combs. The extractor is essentially a 

 fixed can with a revolving frame in it, 

 in which frame the combs of honey 

 are set and rapidly whirled. The cen- 

 trifugal force causes the honey to fly 

 from the cells against the sides of the 

 can. It runs down the sides, collects 

 in the bottom and is drawn off through 

 a faucet. It is as charming in color 

 and as delicate in flavor as when the 

 eager bees sought it in the depths of 

 clover or of linden blooms. When the 

 mistress at the tea-table dips it with 

 silver spoon from the beautiful cut- 

 glass bowl into the china dishes of 

 fairy-like thinness, its sparkling gleam 

 suggests the mysterious amber from 

 the shores of the storm-tossed Baltic. 

 AVhen the ruddy boy spreads it in 

 generous flow on the cakes that come 

 smoking to the breakfast table he 

 surely 'has a" royal dish to set before 

 a king." 



It is only a few years since the 

 honey-extractor was invented, and it 

 has already come into very wide use. 

 Nearly all progressive bee-keepers use 

 it more or less, even if they run their 

 apiaries mainly for comb honey. A 

 gi'eat many bee-keepers are, by its aid, 

 producing only extracted honey, which 

 they find a profitable business, some 

 advantages of which I will briefly 

 state : 



In getting extracted honey the 

 combs are not injured, hence they can 

 be returned to the hive and filled sev- 

 eral times in one season, then stored 

 away for use in other years. When 

 the combs are thus returned to the 

 bees to be refilled, the little workers 



