592 
bees to the chief honey flow in shape Lo 
enable it to take full advantage of the 
harvest. 
Extracted Honey 
To secure extracted honey, the requi- 
site number of combs may be in one long 
hive, or in stories one above another. If 
numerous sets of combs are at hand, or if 
it is desirable to have others built, addi- 
tional stories are put on as fast as the 
eombs already occupied by the bees are 
filled. Before removing the filled combs 
time should be allowed the bees to ripen 
and cap the honey; hence enough combs 
are necessary to give the bees storage 
room while they are capping others. The 
honey in combs that are quite or nearly 
sealed over may be considered sufficiently 
ripened to be removed from the hive. 
It should also be taken promptly, in 
order to keep the various grades or kinds 
separate. 
The cells are uncapped by means of a 
sharp knife, made especially for this pur- 
pose (Fig. 6), and the combs are then 
Fig. 6. Quinby Uncapping Knife. 
made to revolve rapidly in the honey 
extractor. The centrifugal force exerted 
on the honey throws it out, leaving the 
comb cells uninjured, or so slightly in- 
jured that they are wholly repaired with- 
in an hour or so after the return of the 
comb to the hive. The chief advantages 
of this method of harvesting over that of 
crushing the combs are at once apparent 
when it is known that each pound of 
comb saved represents several pounds of 
honey (consumed in its construction), 
and may, with care be used over almost 
indefinitely in securing surplus honey. 
Furthermore, extracted honey is of much 
finer quality than that obtained by crush- 
ing the combs and straining out the liquid 
part, since it is free from crushed bees, 
larvae, pollen or “bee bread,” ete., which 
not only render strained honey dark and 
strong in flavor, but also make it liable 
to fermentation and souring. 
The extracted honey is run into open 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
buckets or tanks and left, covered with 
cheese cloth, to stand a week or so in a 
dry, warm room not frequented by ants. 
It should be skimmed each day until per. 
fectly clear, and is then ready to be put 
into cans or barrels for marketing, or to 
be stored in a dry place. 
The surplus combs are to be removed 
at the close of the season and hung an 
inch or so apart on racks placed in a 
dry, airy room, where no artificial heat 
is felt. Moth larvae are not likely to 
trouble them until the following spring, 
but upon the appearance of milder 
weather their ravages will begin, and if 
the combs cannot be placed under the 
care of the bees at once they must be 
fumigated with burning sulphur or with 
bisulphid of carbon. 
Comb Honey 
The main difference to be observed in 
preparing colonies for the production of 
comb honey, instead of extracted, is in 
the adjustment of the brood apartment 
at the time the supers are added. After 
the colony has been bred up to the great- 
est possible strength, the brood apart- 
ment should be so regulated in size, when 
the honey flow begins and the supers are 
added, as to crowd many of the bees out 
and into the supers placed above. 
On each hive a super is placed holding 
24 to 48 sections, each section supplied 
with a strip or a full sheet of very thin 
foundation. It is best not to give too 
much space at once, as considerable 
warmth is necessary to enable the bees to 
draw out foundation or to build comb. 
A single set of sections is usually sufi- 
cient at a time. When the honey is de- 
signed for home use or for a local market, 
half-depth frames are sometimes used, 
the same as those often used above the 
brood nests when colonies are run for 
extracted honey, but for the general mar- 
ket pound sections are better adapted. 
It is the practice of many to have nice 
white comb partially drawn out before 
the main honey flow begins, or even the 
season before, feeding the colonies, if 
necessary, to secure this; and, when the 
honey yield begins, to supply sets of sec- 
tions with these combs having cells deep 
