10 N. H. COLLEGE EXTENSION SERVICE [Bulletin 15 



since it is easier and will prevent the breakage of combs. The method is as follows: 

 Remove cover and with the hive tool pry loose each end of a given frame; grasp these 

 ends and slowly lift the frame straight up out of the hive and examine the side of the 

 comb in front of you; then slowly drop the left hand until the top bar is perpendicular, 

 and with the top bar on the axis turn the frame to the left till the other side is in full 

 view; examine this, reverse the movements and set the frame to one side or replace it in 

 the hive. 



Carry on all operations about the hive with slow deliberate motions. Maeterhnck, 

 the noted Belgian naturalist, quaintly and well wrote of "using large slow gestures" so 

 that his bees might regard him as a sort of natural catastrophe which it was useless to 

 try to combat. 



COMB HONEY OR EXTRACTED HONEY 



During the war period and immediately following the same, honey was in great 

 demand to replace the sugar shortage. The wholesale price of the better grades of ex- 

 tracted honey was around fifty cents a pound. Large profits per colony were made by 

 many beekeepers who understood the business and had their bees in good condition. 

 The writer knows of many colonies which turned in honey to the value of sixty to 

 seventy-five dollars in a single season. 



But honey is now back again to pre-war j)rices, and the advisability of changing the 

 methods of handling colonies and of producing the honey crop must be considered by 

 every beekeeper. Shall he continue to produce the extracted article, or shall he change 

 over to the production of comb section honey? 



First, it must be remembered that extracted honey is usually easier to secure. Colo- 

 nies can be kept stronger in bees ; they are likely to be more free from disease, and swarm- 

 ing is almost automatically eliminated by the ability to give the queen abundant space 

 for brood rearing. Second, bees apparently prefer to store honey in large sheets or 

 frames, rather than in the small sections. Experience shows that as a rule 25 per cent 

 to 60 per cent greater weight of extracted honey may be expected of the same colony 

 than of comb section honey. 



There is no doubt, too, that extracted honey is coming to be more generally used each 

 year, due to the fact that it is better advertised and more attractively marketed. Part 

 of its increase iu popularity is also due to the fact that all material labeled "honey" must 

 be guaranteed under the national pure food and drug act as the natural product of the 

 bees' industry. 



The centrifugal honey extractor does its work well and quickly, and extracting is not 

 the disagreeable job it is often supposed to be. Extracted honey to be bottled should 

 at first be allowed to settle for a few days in a deep tank, then drawn off from the bottom, 

 heated carefully to 155° P., and bottled while hot to prevent granulation. The bottles 

 should be wide-mouthed, of neat design, of medium size, the half-pound and one-pound 

 sizes usually being preferred, and should be neatly labeled. They should also be per- 

 fectly clean and free from traces of honey on the outside. 



But while extracted honey is a standard article of food, the beautifully capped sections 

 of white clover or wild raspberry honey are thought of as a fine confection, a natural 

 delicacy, finding always a welcome place on the best tables. Honey in this form is 

 selling today for two to three times the price of an equal weight of the extracted article. 

 No expensive extracting or bottling equipment is necessary; and the sections, except for 

 the removing of bee glue or propolis, are ready for sale the moment they are taken from 

 the hive. It is true that more skill and attention is required to produce comb honey; 

 but there are undoubtedly many, especially of the smaller beekeepers, who during the 

 last two or three years have developed skill in handling bees for extracted honey and 

 who would benefit under present conditions in changing over mainly to the production 

 of comb section honey. We have used the word "mainly" advisedly, for experience 

 shows that it pays to give sections only to really strong colonies. Colonies that are not 

 literally boilmg over" with bees when the white clover or wild raspberry honey flow 

 starts had better be run for extracted honey with two bodies during the entire season 

 or first be given a super of shallow frames, and later under this, one of sections after the 

 bees have started work well in the former. 



SWARMING 



Swarming in New England mainly occurs in May and June. Swarms usually emerge 

 on a warm day between nine in the morning and two in the afternoon. Swarming under 

 certain conditions, is a natural instinct, but the up-to-date beekeeper by modifying or 



