291 
The Production of Extracted-Honey 
only a few times a year. The number and time of these 
visits must be determined by the character of the honey- 
flows. Usually the honey from each floral source should 
be extracted separately and this necessitates a trip after 
each honey-flow. The apiaries should be of such size that 
either in one day or two all the extracting can be done, and 
to help with this work unskilled labor may usually be em¬ 
ployed. Since the giving of plenty of drawn combs re¬ 
duces swarming, it is usually not profitable to keep a helper 
at each apiary during the swarming season, for the few 
swarms that would be saved are worth less than the helper 
would cost. If the apiary can be located near the home 
of some interested person the swarms may be caught, but 
frequently it is desirable to put out-apiaries in rather deso¬ 
late places, some distance from a dwelling. E. D. Town¬ 
send of Northstar, Michigan, manages a number of out- 
apiaries in northern Michigan on four trips a year. On 
the first trip (June) he gives each strong colony two 10- 
frame supers, each containing eight frames. On the second 
trip (July) and the third (after the honey-flows) he extracts, 
two trips being made to keep the clover and basswood honeys 
separate. In October he sees that the colonies are ready 
for winter, after which they are not again visited until June. 
Removing honey from the bees. 
Honey should not be removed from the hive for extracting 
until well ripened. When at least two-thirds of the surface 
of the comb is capped over the honey will be sufficiently 
thick, but the humidity should be considered in laying down 
a rule for this. In dry climates, such as the semi-arid 
regions of the West, the evaporation of the water in the 
nectar takes place rapidly and it is not necessary to wait 
until so much of the honey is capped. Conversely in regions 
of high humidity it is sometimes difficult to get honey well 
ripened. 
When the time comes to extract, the usual practice is 
to remove the frames one by one, returning those not ready, 
