A SURVEY OF BEEKEEPING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 7 



removed from the combs, which are placed in a slanting trough, 

 and, after some of the honey has dripped from the combs, the residue 

 is pressed to remove the remainder of the honey. The resulting 

 product contains considerable pollen and other foreign substances. 

 It must not be thought that extracted and strained or squeezed honey 

 are the same ; neither are bulk comb-honey and chunk honey identical. 



SIZE OF CROPS. 



The number of beekeepers of all classes whose methods have been 

 studied is sufficient to indicate the amounts of honey in the different 

 forms now secured by those who are really giving the bees some chance 

 to do what they can. The average amount of comb-honey in sections 

 is given at 40 pounds per colony. The amount secured in the eastern 

 part of the State by extracting averages 60 pounds. The data re- 

 garding strained or squeezed honey were somewhat indefinite, being 

 given as 2-| to 6 gallons or 30 to 72 pounds per " gum." This includes 

 of course the entire amount of honey in the hive when the colony is 

 killed. It is possible that the custom of killing the bees and taking 

 the honey in the full moon in June may result in a smaller amount 

 being secured than if the killing were left until gathering had ceased 

 in the fall. The average production of bulk comb-honey per hive is 

 given as 50 pounds. These figures are all conservative, being based 

 on a series of years including good and poor seasons. Mention may be 

 made of the production of 10 gallons of squeezed honey, 120 pounds 

 of bulk comb-honey, or 150 sections by a single good colony in good 

 seasons, but while these amounts have been secured in good seasons, 

 the figures given previously are being duplicated annually. 



BEESWAX. 



No effort is made to secure all the wax from old combs and only 

 the crudest methods are used in rendering. No wax-press was seen 

 which was capable of sufficient pressure to get most of the wax; in 

 fact the only press used is made of two pieces of lumber hinged at one 

 end. The free ends are brought together while the sack containing 

 the hot material is between the sticks near the hinged end. The wax 

 produced in all parts of the State is small in quantity, due to ineffi- 

 cient methods of rendering, but it is of good quality and free from 

 foreign matter. 



Although the State ranks second in the amount of wax produced, 

 this should not be considered as a favorable condition, since it results 

 from the practice of killing bees to get the honey. With good bee- 

 keeping the destruction of combs in this way will not be practiced, 

 but the total output of wax will probably not be decreased if better 

 methods of rendering are employed. 



