1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



383 



COMB-HONEY PRODUCTION. 



How to Obtain the Best Results, Both as to Quan- 

 tity and (Quality ; the Art of Malting ail the Sec- 

 lions in a Super "Fancy;" the Relative Proper, 

 tion of Comb to Extracted Honey. 



BV OREL L. HERSHISER. 



[Those who attfiided the Pan- American exposition 

 will remember some beautiful comb honey which Mr. 

 Hershiser produced on the grounds. It was well 

 filled out— renarkably so — and heau'iful to look at. 

 Mr. Hershiser explained that he c'd not follow the 

 orthodox melV.od of tiering up; that is to say, he re- 

 versed the method. Some lime ago I requested hira 

 to trll us about the plan in detail — a plan whereby he 

 could make nearly every section in a super " Fancy." 

 This he promised to do by saying he would send the 

 a: tides in time to make them seasonabl-e. This is the 

 first one of the series.— Ed.] 



The theme "Comb-honey Production" is 

 one that has always been popular with 

 writers on apicultural topics; and as long- 

 as further treatment of the subject promises 

 to be profitable it will not become worn 

 threadb ire. Whatever of better classifica- 

 tion of known facts, in addition to newly 

 discovered methods, the application of which 

 will make apiculture more remunerative as 

 an avocation and a better pa3'ing- business 

 as a vocation, is of vital importance to the 

 bee-keeper. 



Frequently' nature, in her lavi«hness of 

 the necessarj' conditions, will enable the 

 unscientific and unprogressive bee-keeper, 

 who does iilmost nothin<i^ to direct the efforts 

 of his bees, to produce comb honey that 

 would pass as "fancy, " and to that class 

 of honey-producers it may be said that the 

 adoption of modern hives and appliances, 

 together with a well-formulated system of 

 management, based upon known facts, to 

 the end that the maximum usefulness of the 

 entire colony, during the honey-liow, is ob- 

 tained, will more than double his average 

 of comb honey, and will more than paj^ him 

 for the necessar}' outlay in hives and appli- 

 ances in one average season of nectar secre- 

 tion. The thoughtful and scientific apicul- 

 turisthas the greater interest in the S3'stem 

 and methods which will yield him the greater 

 net profits, not only in seasons that are un- 

 usually bountiful to all honej'-producers, 

 but those when but average or adverse con- 

 ditions prevail. 



It has come to be generally believed that 

 a given number of colonies will prodtice 

 from 50 to 100 per cent more extracted than 

 of comb honey, that of the latter being 

 greater if the honey- flow is abundant and 

 less if it is poor. It is explained that the 

 greater quantity of extracted honey is pro- 

 duced becatise of the repeated use of ex- 

 tracting-combs, and the resultant saving of 

 the labor of the bees in comb building and 

 the necessary consumption of honej' to pro- 

 duce the wax therefor. A further reason 

 for this disparagement in the production of 

 honej' in the two forms, under the orthodox 

 systems of management, is very evident. 

 The extracted-honej' producer usually pro- 

 vides a super or additional body, with 

 drawn combs, furnishing storage room for 



surplus honey, and preventing the crowding 

 of the queen, by making it necessary for 

 the workers to use the cells from which 

 young bees have just emerged, for that pur- 

 pose instead of continuing their use for 

 brood-rearing. These store combs, being 

 provided as needed, there is no interruption 

 of the work of the bees, and consequent loss of 

 honey, but, on the contrary, conditions favor- 

 ing the rapid increase in the number of work- 

 er bees, which is very important in localities 

 where there is to be expected late sum.mer 

 or fall flows of honey. When the capacity 

 of the hive is restricted to one brood-body 

 till time to put on the super for comb honey, 

 at which time, by ordinary S5'stems of man- 

 agement, there is not j'et sufficient bees in 

 the colon}' to occupy and work in it, they 

 are said to be slow in commencing work in 

 the supers. But, really, is it anj' wonder 

 that they will not immediately expand their 

 cluster so as to occupy an additional space, 

 which is more than half the capacity of the 

 brood chamber? One other reason for the 

 unequal proportion in the quantity of honey 

 produced in the two forms may be mention- 

 ed in pas.sing. Some apiarists, in their 

 zeal to obtain a large crop of honey, extract 

 before the bees have sealed it. Such honey 

 is nearly always unripe, and likel}' to fer- 

 ment, and is of much less value than it 

 would have been if allowed to remain on 

 the hive till mature. This practice is, there- 

 fore, emphatically condemned. 



Speaking from personal experience, the 

 hive best adapted to comb-honey production 

 is one that can be built up or storified: one 

 that has a comparatively shallow brood- 

 chamber, somewhat shallower than the 

 Langstroth hive. The comb surface of the 

 brood-body should not be greater than the 

 equivalent of eight Langstroth frames. 

 The space on the upper surface of the brood- 

 body should be sufficient to accommodate a 

 super containing 32 one-pound sections. In 

 the opinion of the writer, for his locality at 

 least, the ten frame Langstroth hive con- 

 ta'ns too much space in the brood chamber 

 to obtain the best results, except it be con- 

 tracted by dummies, and in comb honey pro- 

 duction the use of the latter brings a por- 

 tion of the sections over the dummies, and 

 too far removed from the heat of the hive to 

 obtain their perfect construction. On the 

 other hand, the eight frame Langstroth hive 

 does not contain sufficient super surface to 

 meet the requirements of high-pressure bee- 

 keeping. And Langstroth frames generally 

 have one or two inches of nice white honey 

 along the under side of the top- bar, at the 

 end of the white-honej' season, which, if it 

 could be placed in the sections, would great- 

 ly enhance the profits of the apiarist. Such 

 shallow hive should consist of two brood- 

 bodies, which may be used interchangeably, 

 making what is sometimes called a divisible 

 brood-chamber, and two supers (three 

 would be better), which maj' be used inter- 

 changeably with each other or with the 

 brood-bodies. 



With such a hive the building-up of the 



