PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 3 
the other hand, the colon} 7 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 surj^lus 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 EXTRACTED 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 smal 1 
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. 
