A SURVEY OF BEEKEEPING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 7 
removed from the combs, which are placed in a slanting trough, 
and, after some of the honey has dripped from the combs, the residue 
is pressed to remove the remainder of the honey. The resulting 
product contains considerable pollen and other foreign substances. 
It must not be thought that extracted and strained or squeezed honey 
are the same ; neither are bulk comb-honey and chunk honey identical. 
SIZE OF CROPS. 
The number of beekeepers of all classes whose methods have been 
studied is sufficient to indicate the amounts of honey in the different 
forms now secured by those who are really giving the bees some chance 
to do what they can. The average amount of comb-honey in sections 
is given at 40 pounds per colony. The amount secured in the eastern 
part of the State by extracting averages 60 pounds. The data re- 
garding strained or squeezed honey were somewhat indefinite, being 
given as 2J to 6 gallons or 30 to 72 pounds per " gum." This includes 
of course the entire amount of honey in the hive when the colony is 
killed. It is possible that the custom of killing the bees and taking 
the honey in the full moon in June may result in a smaller amount 
being secured than if the killing were left until gathering had ceased 
in the fall. The average production of bulk comb-honey per hive is 
given as 50 pounds. These figures are all conservative, being based 
on a series of years including good and poor seasons. Mention may be 
made of the production of 10 gallons of squeezed honey, 120 pounds 
of bulk comb-honey, or 150 sections by a single good colony in good 
seasons, but while these amounts have been secured in good seasons, 
the figures given previously are being duplicated annually. 
BEESWAX. 
No effort is made to secure all the wax from old combs and only 
the crudest methods are used in rendering. No wax -press was seen 
which was capable of sufficient pressure to get most of the wax ; in 
fact the only press used is made of two pieces of lumber hinged at one 
end. The free ends are brought together while the sack containing 
the hot material is between the sticks near the hinged end. The wax 
produced in all parts of the State is small in quantity, due to ineffi- 
cient methods of rendering, but it is of good quality and free from 
foreign matter. 
Although the State ranks second in the amount of wax produced, 
this should not be considered as a favorable condition, since it results 
from the practice of killing bees to get the honey. With good bee- 
keeping the destruction of combs in this way will not be practiced, 
but the total output of wax will probably not be decreased if better 
methods of rendering are employed. 
