Texas Beekeeping. 



79 



less expensive than section honey, and not much more difficult to 

 produce than extracted honey, while the profits are much greater. 



The average yield per colony of bulk comb honey, comb and ex- 

 tracted honey together, is about 100 pounds, and, as extracted honey 

 is required to put up with the comb honey, both are generally pro- 

 duced on the same hive. The extracted honey supers are placed on 

 early in the season to catch the early honey before the season is well 

 enough advanced for the best work in the comb honey supers, and 

 they are also made use of again at the end of the flow to catch 

 the honey which otherwise would result in a great deal of unfinished 

 comb honey. Thus the comb honey is produced rapidly during the 

 most favorable part of the season, or the honey flow, and during a 

 time when the bees are secreting wax more rapidly, which lessens 

 the delay in comb building and consumption of honey otherwise 

 necessary. Using the extracted 

 supers in the early spring fur- 

 nishes the bees extra room and 

 keeps them contented longer, so 

 that when still more room is pro- 

 vided by giving the shallow 

 supers with frames, containing 

 full sheets of foundation when 

 the flow begins, there is no de- 

 sire to swarm. 



Instead of using the regular 

 deep hives or those of the Lang- 

 stroth dimensions, for supers, as 

 well as for the brood chamber 

 below, shallow supers 5% 

 inches deep, are used more ex- 

 tensively now, for they are more 

 suitable in size for the manipu- 

 lations outlined. It is possible 

 to use a much lighter weight of 

 foundation in shallow frames, 

 which is quite a saving and 

 makes the presence of such less 

 noticeable in the finished pro- 

 duct than is the ease where 

 heavier foundation is used. 



For extracted honey shallow 

 frames are also well adapted, 

 because their comb surfaces are 

 more easily uncapped before ex- 

 tracting, as the knife reaches 

 completely across their width, and one stroke uncaps the entire sur- 

 face. Room can be given to the colonies more gradually, as needed, 

 with the shallow supers. This is a great advantage over using the 

 deeper and larger hives over the colonies that are not able to take 

 care of so much room at one time. The veriter is using these shallmv 

 supers, and their superiority enables him to accomplish manipulations 



A stack of bulk comb honey. 



