86 THE BLESSED BEES. 



4. The demand for extracted honey, even of the 

 best quality, is not so great as for comb honey, and 

 the price per pound is usually not more than two- 

 thirds as much as the price of comb honey. 



5. After apple blossoms would come a period of 

 no bloom until white clover should open, during 

 which the bees would obtain scarcely enough honey 

 to keep them rearing brood. After white clover 

 and linn there would be another season of inactivity, 

 and another after the first frost in the fall. During 

 these idle seasons it would be best to feed the hives 

 a little every day, in order to keep them rearing 

 brood. 



6. Then I asked myself this question : Could the 

 honey be extracted often during a honey harvest, and 

 then when the time of no bloom came, and the bees 

 were forced to idleness, could this honey be fed back to 

 them, and be stored by them in nice, new , comb, and 

 ripened so as to obtain nearly as many pounds of comb 

 honey as had been taken of extracted honey ? 



7. It will be seen that by the frequent extracting 

 the large quantity of thin honey would be secured ; 

 and the combs being often emptied, the queen would 

 have empty cells for her eggs, and so be kept lay- 

 ing. Then, when the period of scarcity came, by 

 feeding this honey back, a stimulus would be given 

 the queen. The bees, too, would be kept busy 

 feeding the young brood, and storing the honey in 



