70 Texas Department op Agriculture. 



Although the price of foundation seems high to the average beginner, 

 and the use of it, especially in full sheets, appears expensive, he 

 should not hesitate to use it at all times, as it pays to do so. All 

 experienced beekeepers are so well aware of this fact that they use 

 large quantities of foundation annually. 



WHY COMB HONEY COSTS MORE. 



Those who are acquainted only with the old method of procuring 

 "strained" honey can hardly understand why comb honey should be 

 higher in price, since it requires much work and fussing to separate 

 the honey from the wax and hence they opine comb honey should be 

 the cheaper of the two. Under that method, the combs, often con- 

 taining large quantities of pollen, and sometimes even young brood, 

 are cut from the box-hives, then hiashed up and placed in coarse 

 cloths so the honey can be pressed out, resulting in a product more 

 or less tainted in flavor and color. When it is practiced, it is no 

 wonder that they can not perceive why comb honey should sell for 

 more. 



The extracted- honey, however, is produced very differently. With 

 extracted honey production the combs, once built, are used over and 

 over again, the honey being removed from them by means of the 

 honey extractor, and the combs returned to the hives to be filled 

 again, thus saving all the time and honey that would have been con- 

 sumed by the bees in comb building, and the human labor necessary 

 with "strained honey," and securing the purest and clearest, fine 

 flavored honey, free from impurities. In other words, extracted honey 

 is thrown from the combs exactly as the bees stored and ripened it 

 in them. Thus, very large quantities of extracted honey can be pro- 

 duced much cheaper than comb honey. 



With comb honey production these large yields can not be ob- 

 tained, for the main reason that the bees are required to build new 

 combs in which to store honey. This delays the work materially, 

 besides making it necessary for the bees to consume from twelve to 

 twenty-four pounds of honey, out of which the wax is secreted, for 

 every pound of comb built. 



ARTIFICIAL COMB. 



Some people have the erroneous idea that artificial honey comb 

 is manufactured ready for the bees to fill with honey. A few years 

 ago at a cost of thousands of dollars, experiments were conducted in 

 making comb foundation with extra deep cells, but were abandoned 

 as futile.. Not only was the matter of manufacture a difficult one, 

 but the use of the foundation with the deep cells was objectionable 

 for several i-easons, chief among which were its toughness, due to 

 the heavy milling of the wax, which would have been disagreeable 

 in the finished comb honey; the extra trouble in packing for ship- 

 ping, and the high price of such foundation. 



Tlie farthest step that has been taken in the direction of aiding 

 bees in comb building is the manufacture of comb foundation with a 

 very thin base and rather thick lines of wax which mark the begin- 



