6 BULLETIN 489, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



thin lumber inside an outer shell, and when the supers are removed 

 the shell is filled with pine needles, locally called " pine straw." 



There is considerable evidence of the value of the protection 

 afforded by thick log "gums" in winter. This is to be expected, 

 since all have walls 2 or 3 inches thick. When the subject of winter 

 protection is mentioned, the North Carolina beekeeper states that 

 the mildness of the climate makes extra protection unnecessary. Its 

 value is apparent to the best beekeepers when it is shown that extra 

 packing will keep the bees quiet during the season when no nectar 

 can be gathered, since they all agree that bees expend too much 

 energy needlessly during this period. 



QUEEN REARING. 



There are three queen-rearing apiaries in the State, with a total 

 output of from 1,500 to 2,000 Italian queens annually. These queen - 

 breeders produce light-colored bees. Queen-cells are started in the 

 queenless side of a colony, divided by queen-excluding zinc. Both 

 small twin mating-boxes and nuclei with full-size frames are used 

 for mating queens. 



TYPES OF HONEY. 



There are five distinct types of honej^ produced in North Carolina,' 

 as follows: Bulk comb-honey, produced in shallow frames (5§ inches 

 deep), is cut out and packed in 5, 10, and 15-pound tin buckets, with 

 enough extracted hone}^ added to fill up the spaces. Care is used to 

 keep the queen out of the storage combs, in order that they may not 

 be darkened by having bees reared in them. Combs containing 

 pollen are not permitted in honey of this type. Chunk honey is pro- 

 duced in log or box " gums " and is " robbed " from the top of the 

 hive in irregular chunks after the " head " or top of the " gum " has 

 been removed. Frequently the comb has been darkened and tough- 

 ened by having brood reared in it, and much pollen — " beebread " — 

 finds its way into this product. No regular size or shape of package 

 is used for this type of honey, the customer usually furnishing the 

 container. Comb-honey — " section or box honey " — is produced in 

 the commercial section, locally known as honey box or pound sec- 

 tion. Extracted honey is stored in either deep or shallow frames 

 and is removed by the honey extractor and packed in 50-gallon bar- 

 rels. Honey in this form is secured unmixed with pollen or other 

 foreign substances. Strained or "squeezed" honey is stored by the 

 bees in the log or plank " gums," the honey being obtained by killing 

 the bees with sulphur fumes, cutting the combs from the hives, and 

 at once mashing up the combs and putting the mass in a thin cloth 

 sack, so that the honey can drip out. Sometimes the cappings are 



