HARVESTTNG. 471 



bers not only annoy the Apiarist, but cause the bees to 

 get angry, and to sting. 



'i'81. All the eases, "when extracted, are piled up on an 

 oil-cloth carpet, till the day's work is done. The combs are 

 not put back into the hive before evening, at sundown; to 

 prevent too much excitement in the apiary. In half an hour, 

 every hand helping, the whole number is distributed on the 

 hives; though we may have extracted as much as three thou- 

 sand pounds in a day. 



There are seasons, in which a continuation of the honey 

 crop, permits returning the combs, as fast as they are ex- 

 tracted. In such seasons it causes no excitement, and is much 

 more convenient. 



782. Within two or three days after extracting, the bees 

 have cleaned the combs, and repaired them. But, to prevent 

 the moths from-injuring them, we keep them on the hives 

 during the whole summer; the bees take care of them, and in 

 the "Winter, we pile up the cases, carefully closed, in cold 

 rooms where the cold of Winter destroys the eggs of the inoth 

 (802).' 



In localities, where there are two or more distinct crops 

 of honey, each crop should be harvested separately. Thus, 

 we always extract the June crop in July, and the Fall- crop 

 in September. 



Honey production, with the above methods, is so successful 

 that the problem for practical Apiarists is no longer, how 

 to produce large crops of honey, but how to sell it (839). 

 Extracted honey can certainly be produced, at very low cost, 

 and it can be truly said, that in the last fifty years, there 

 has been more progress in bee-culture, than in any other 

 branch of rural economy. 



783. As the wax of the cappings amounts to a little 

 more than one per cent, of the weight of the honey extracted, 

 and as these cappings even after they are well drained, con- 

 tain a large amount of honey fit to be converted into vinegar 

 when separated from the cappings by washing, the expense of 

 extracting is more than compensated. 



