56 ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 
locations, when the surplus comes so unevenly, by unfavorable condi- 
tions of the atmosphere, that this, too, to a great extent prevents the 
securing of nice comb honey. We all know that, the sooner the sections 
can be filled and well capped, then removed from the bees, the nicer 
will the honey appear. 
Some years ago, in conversation with one of our principal honey- 
merchants, he called my attention to a fine lot of comb honey he had 
just received. Each section was glassed on each side, and the combs 
were as white as any new comb I ever saw. I don’t think the sections 
could have been on the hive more than ten days. They were so white 
and free from travel-stains he told me he could sell that honey for 4 
cents per lb. more than ordinary honey, on account of its fine ap- 
pearance. 
A location that will require the whole summer in order that a 
colony can secure 30 or 40 lbs. of comb honey should never be used to 
produce honey of that kind, for only a rich harvest with strong colonies 
and warm nights, so the bees will continue their work in the sections, 
night and day, will give us choice comb honey, and usually it is rather 
hard to have these requirements all at the same time; and if either 
is lacking, then we have a surplus of poor quality and a large number 
of unfinished sections. 
Then there is the expense connected with comb honey, which we 
must consider. This is no small item in large apiaries. I hardly know 
just what it would be now, as it is a long time since I produced comb 
honey. But when I did, it cost me at least 2 cents per lb. for the 
necessary sections, comb foundation, glass, and crates. Then the freight 
charges were high, and frequently the honey got badly damaged in tran- 
sit; and the worst of all was the uncertainty of securing much surplus. 
Then when I got the net returns from the commission men, and found 
they were only 10 or 12 cents per lb., with still another discount to be 
made of 2 cents per lb. or over for supplies, I gave up the production of 
comb honey in disgust. 
The desire to swarm is hard to overcome in producing comb honey— 
much more so than with extracted. It is much handier to make in- 
crease, rear queens, or form nuclei in running an apiary for extracted 
honey, for I think these all require some brood when started, which 
never should be taken from a colony at work in sections, for it soon 
reduces their working force and causes them to be somewhat dis- 
couraged. This can be easily proven by removing their brood and put- 
ting in its place combs partly filled with honey. 
Now, the question of labor is one we must consider. From our past 
experience we find, from the time sections, creates, comb foundation, 
separators, and glass are received from the manufacturer until the 
comb honey is sold, it has required far more labor than it would to 
produce a given amount of extracted honey. Whichever you produce, 
I consider it of as much importance to prepare your bees well in the 
spring for the summer harvest as it is to prepare them in the summer 
for the long cold winters of the North. 
