PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



1861 



■^'jMlERICA.^ 



AT $1.00 PER ANNUM. 







35tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 9, 1895. 



No. 19. 



Coi;)tnbuted /Vrticles^ 



On Imjyortant Ajiiariati Suhj^ots, 



No. 5. — The Production of Extracted Honey. 



BY CHAS. DADANT. 



To produce extracted honey largely we use half-story 

 supers, the frames of which are just 6 inches deep, and of the 

 same length as the frames of the brood-chamber. These 

 frames are all fitted with combs, or comb foundation, and we 

 preserve them from one year to another. This is one of the 

 great advantages of extracting, for we thus preserve that 

 which is the most difficult and expensive for the bees to build. 



A few days before the opening of the crop, these supers 

 are placed on all the hives which have their lower story filled 

 with brood. The only hives that are left without supers are 

 those that have been delayed in their breeding, either by the 

 lack of fecundity of the queen, or by the weakness of the col- 

 ony caused by bad wintering. These weaker colonies, to- 

 gether with one or two of the very best ones, are used in mak- 

 ing artificial swarms, to keep up the number of colonies in 

 each apiary ; for we do not, and in fact cannot, depend upon 

 natural swarming when running for extracted honey with 

 large hives. The very best colonies are used for queen-rear- 

 ing, and the others are divided up. Their brood would hatch 

 at a time when it would be of no use for the clover crop, and 

 by a timely division we can make good " swarms," which may 

 help in the fall crop. At any rate, with a little help, almost 

 every one of these " swarms " will make a good colony for win- 

 ter. As a matter of course, we always have a few colonies 

 that are altogether too weak to made either "swarms" or 

 store honey. But these are exceptions. 



Within 10 or 12 days after the crop has fairly begun, we 

 make an examination of our colonies. In good seasons many 

 of the best have their supers a third full, and it is then ad- 

 visable to add a second story, which we usually put under the 

 first. In a very good season, we sometimes use two half- 



Edmund Wliittlesey, Pecatonica, III. — See page 300. 



stories from the first with our best colonies, and very often 

 add a third before the crop is over. Much depends upon the 

 season and the condition of the bees at the opening of the 

 crop. 



We usually wait until the entire crop is harvested before 



beginning extracting ; but, in a few very bright seasons, we 

 were compelled to extract, because the bees were out of room, 

 and we had no more supers to give them. Such seasons may 

 be marked in red letters on a bee-keeper's diary. Such were, 

 with us, the years 1883 and 1884. In 1884, we extracted 

 the honey, in one apiary, five different times, and made an 

 average of nearly 150 pounds per colony. The general aver- 

 age, however, one year with another, does not exceed 50 



The Tongue of the Honey-Bce — Magnified. 

 A, Tongue extended. B, Llprula. sheath extended. 0, Cross see. Llgula. 



pounds per colony, and this is, after all, very satisfactory, even 

 with honey at 6 cents per pound. 



We find that, in some seasons, the colonies make a very 

 good average of crop ; but few supers remaining empty, 

 while, in other seasons, the yield is very unequal ; some colo- 

 nies giving two and even three supers full of honey, while 

 some others may not fill a half super. When such is the case, 

 we find it profitable to equalize the crop by adding some full 

 combs to the weaker colonies, and exchanging the supers with 

 those that have all their combs filled. During a good honey- 

 flow, it is not at all necessary to shake the bees out. We 

 transfer bees and all, and find that everything goes on peace- 

 ably. When there is plenty of honey there is neither robbing 

 nor fighting. The result of this equalizing is that there is no 

 time lost when the extracting comes, as all the combs are full, 

 and there is no handling of empty frames. 



