Producing Good Extracted Honey 93 



All brings the same price. White-clover honey brings so much, buck- 

 wheat so much. The honey with the fine delicate flavor, the thoroughl\ 

 bee-ripened, well-preserved, superior article, will not bring one cent more 

 in the general market than the ordinary pretty good honey. Perhaps for 

 manufacturing purposes there is no advantage in having such a superior 

 article ; but for table sauce there is ; and the only way in which the man 

 who produces a really superior article can hope to receive pay for his 

 extra trouble is by selling direct to consumers or by establishing a repu- 

 tation for his honey among dealers and their customers. The only secret 

 in producing a superior grade of extracted honey — honey that will be 

 the equal of that which drips from the delicate morsel of comb at the 

 tea-table, is that of leaving it on the hive until it is sealed and thoroughly 

 ripened. Leaving the honey on the hive a few weeks after it is sealed 

 seems to give an added ripeness or richness. Here is the plan : 



There must be an abundance of empty combs and supers — enough 

 to hold all of a possible crop — so that the bee-keeper can put on supers 

 of comb at any time with no hesitancy — just as though the supply were 

 limitless. Of course, these combs and supers cost something ; but they 

 have to be bought only once, so that their real cost is only the interest 

 on the money. There is no attempt whatever to extract the hone_\- 

 during the harvest. All of this hustle and bustle and hurry and worry 

 to extract in time to give the bees room during the harvest is done away 

 with. If a colony or a whole apiary needs more room, simply give more 

 supers of comb. This is a quick operation. One man could look after 

 five or six apiaries, even during the honey-flow, if all he had to do was 

 to put on supers when they were needed, while one apiary would keep 

 him busy if he had to extract the honey to give the bees room. If the 

 hives, or some of them, become piled up too high, it is an easy matter 

 to remove some of the top supers by the use of bee-escapes, and store 

 the supers of honey in the bee-cellar — there is no need to extract at the 

 time of removal unless there is plenty of time for doing the work. 



After the harvest is over, comes the work of extracting ; but there 

 is no hurry about it ; there are probably two months in which to do the 

 work. The honey is all on the hives unless some of it has been removed, 

 as suggested, when that which has been removed should be extracted 

 first. That which is on the hives is not only safe but daily improving 

 in quality. Without the invention of the bee-escape this plan would not 

 be feasible. It is not practical to remove honey and brush oflf the bees 

 after the close of the harvest ; but by the proper use of the bee-escape 

 the whole crop can be taken off with no commotion, no stinging, no 

 robbing, and safely landed in the honey-house without a bee in the 

 \ard fairly realizing what has been taking place. 



