ALEXANDER'S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 57 



In the above I have briefly called your attention to a few of the 

 many troubles In producing choice comb honey. With extracted honey 

 it In many ways is so different that it is almost like another business. 

 We have the whole spring season to rear young queens, make increase, 

 and build them up Into strong colonies; and although when the harvest 

 comes there may be some still weak In bees, we know that they will 

 give us some surplus, even though the season is a poor one, and the 

 harvest is strung along all summer with only now and then a good 

 honey day. 



As soon as a colony is strong enough in bees, and is full of brood 

 and honey, all that is necessary to do is to put on top a hive of empty 

 combs with a queen-excluder between; and if you want them to com- 

 mence storing honey above, at once exchange an empty comb from your 

 upper hive for a comb of brood from below. 



Some prefer shallow combs to extract from; others prefer combs 

 of the same size as those below, and use one or two combs less in 

 their extracting-supers. We prefer all combs in the apiary to be of the 

 same size, and use the same number in the extracting-super as in the 

 main hive. This gives more comb surface, so the honey will evaporate 

 much faster than in thick combs. 



Here is one of the principal reasons why we are never troubled with 

 thin honey. A strong full colony that has plenty of room to spread 

 out their honey and keep it hot night and day will thicken it very 

 fast. 



Storage-tanks are very important in producing extracted honey of 

 fine quality. After it is strained into them there will be a little scum 

 rise to the top, which can easily be skimmed off, and never should 

 be allowed to go with the honey. Then it is easy to draw off the thick 

 honey from the bottom, which gives you the very best quality that can 

 be produced. 



Comb honey is rather unfortunate in many ways. It is used only 

 for table use, and here it has to compete with nearly all kinds of fruit, 

 maple syrup, and a small per cent of extracted honey. But not so with 

 extracted. There is a growing demand at nearly all times of the year 

 for it. This is used mostly for manufacturing purposes. 



As to the amount of comb or extracted honey that an apiary can 

 be made to produce this is well worth considering. Some good bee- 

 keepers estimate 2 lbs. of extracted for one of comb. We are sure we 

 could never secure more than one-third as much comb as we do ex- 

 tracted, even though it cost far more labor. 



Still another thing I like about producing extracted honey is that, 

 as soon as the harvest is over, the work in the apiary is nearly done, 

 except putting the bees in their winter quarters. 



In the above I have tried to show both sides of the question to 

 the best of my ability, and I leave you to answer your own question 

 as to which is the more profitable to produce — comb or extracted honey. 



July, 1907. 



