PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 3 



the other hand, the colony is usually stronger, with more field bees; 

 this is probably a large factor in the increased amount of surplus 

 obtained from a colony run for extracted honey. 



When the honey flow begins, the bees can at once commence to store 

 honey in extracting combs, provided the bee keeper is careful to put 

 them on in time, but in comb honey production it is first necessary 

 for the bees to secrete a considerable quantity of wax before there is 

 room for honey in the surplus boxes or sections and honey is con- 

 sequently stored in the brood chamber; if much honey is stored here, 

 the queen is cramped for room to lay. The novice at extracted honey 

 production should be careful not to extract so much of the honey in 

 the hive that the bees will not have enough to live on. This is a 

 very common error until the bee keeper is taught by experience how 

 much to extract. It is better to extract too little than too much. 



METHOD OF PRODUCING EXTBACTED HONEY. 



THE HIVE. 



The hive used for extracted honey production should be at least as 

 large as 10 frames. However strongly the advocates of 8-frame 

 hives or even smaller ones may urge the advantage of a contracted 

 brood chamber in order to crowd the surplus honey into the upper 

 stories, certainly these small hives have little place in the production 

 of extracted honey. The queen should have at least 10 frames for 

 brood rearing, if the bee keeper is to expect the maximum results. 

 The use of large hives is upheld by the practices of the largest and 

 best extracted-honey producers of the United States, and the small 

 hives have small sale among extensive producers. 



BROOD MANIPULATION. 



In the production of honey, either comb or extracted, it must be 

 remembered that if the honey flow is short, only those bees which are 

 fully developed at the beginning of the flow are of any value in honey 

 gathering. The amount of brood reared normally increases at the 

 beginning of a honey flow, especially with Italian bees, but this brood 

 is rarely of much use in producing honey gatherers. In many cases 

 it may be desirable to retard brood rearing at the beginning of the flow 

 by caging the queen or even by removing frames of brood. On the 

 other hand, it is advisable to see to it that brood rearing is extensive 

 for several weeks before a honey flow is expected. This may be 

 brought about by stimulative feeding and by the cautious spreading 

 of brood in the colony. This procedure usually pays well. A care- 

 ful study of locality conditions is necessary before planning opera- 

 tions of this nature. 



