COMB HONEY OR EXTRACTED HONEY — WHICH? 
CHAPTER II. 
The honey which the bees produce in excess of their winter needs is 
called surplus honey. This may be stored in comb built in small boxes 
called sections, which hold about one pound of honey each and are sold 
with the honey; or it may be stored in combs built in “shallow” frames 
holding about three pounds, the honey being cut out and used or sold in 
the comb as chunk honey; or it may be extracted from the combs built in 
either “shallow” or “deep” frames and the same frames of combs used in 
the hive repeatedly year after year. The honey produced in the sections 
is called comb honey, and that extracted from-the combs is called ex- 
tracted honey. 
Now at the very outset it will be necessary to decide whether to pro- 
duce comb honey or extracted, for, as just explained, the equipment in the 
two cases will differ. There are several good reasons why the average 
beginner will find it to his advantage to produce extracted rather than 
comb honey, although many a beginner has first produced comb honey. 
Comb and Extracted Honey Production Compared. 
For the first year, the comb and the extracted honey outfits do not 
differ materially in price, except for the extractor; but in succeeding years 
the financial advantage is in favor of the extracted-honey production, for 
the same combs in which the bees store honey the first year may be used 
repeatedly year after year, while the sections and foundation in which comb 
honey is stored must be replaced at considerable cost every season. 
Comb is made of wax, which is a secretion from certain glands of the 
bees; and for the production of a pound of wax it is probably necessary 
for the bees to consume five to fifteen pounds of honey, which might other- 
wise be sold as surplus. Therefore, besides the extra cost of supplies the 
beekeeper loses considerable from the fact that bees producing comb honey 
are compelled each year to build all the comb in which they store their 
surplus honey instead of using the same comb year after year as in the 
case of extracted-honey production. Such comb would quite likely contain 
as much as three pounds of wax and might, therefore, require fifteen or 
more pounds of honey for its production. 
Comb-honey production requires far more skill in order to produce a 
good crop, and at the same time keep down swarming. The section boxes 
are so much smaller than the combs the bees naturally build that they do 
not enter them as readily as they do the large combs used in extracted- 
honey production. Therefore, considerable skill is sometimes necessary to 
induce bees to start work in section supers. Also, the extracted-honey bee- 
keeper finds that giving an abundance of room helps greatly in the pre- 
vention of swarming, while the comb-honey man is compelled to keep his 
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