The Project Gutenberg eBook ofComb HoneyThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Comb HoneyAuthor: Geo. S. DemuthRelease date: May 29, 2019 [eBook #59630]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Tom Cosmas compiled from images made availableby The Internet Archive.*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMB HONEY ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Comb HoneyAuthor: Geo. S. DemuthRelease date: May 29, 2019 [eBook #59630]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Tom Cosmas compiled from images made availableby The Internet Archive.
Title: Comb Honey
Author: Geo. S. Demuth
Author: Geo. S. Demuth
Release date: May 29, 2019 [eBook #59630]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Tom Cosmas compiled from images made availableby The Internet Archive.
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMB HONEY ***
Issued August 23, 1912.U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.FARMERS' BULLETIN 503.COMB HONEY.BYGEO. S. DEMUTH.Apicultural Assistant, Bureau of Entomology.USDA LogoWASHINGTON:GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE1912.
Issued August 23, 1912.
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
FARMERS' BULLETIN 503.
COMB HONEY.
BY
Apicultural Assistant, Bureau of Entomology.
USDA Logo
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1912.
U.S. Department of Agriculture,Bureau of Entomology,Washington, D. C., April 16, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled "Comb Honey," by Geo. S. Demuth, apicultural assistant in this bureau.
In view of the increasing demand for the finest grade of comb honey and a decrease in the amount of comb honey produced, it seems timely to present to professional beekeepers an analysis of the best practice as well as to point out some essentials to the production of maximum crops of the best grade. I recommend the publication of this paper as a Farmers' Bulletin.
Respectfully,
L. O. Howard,Entomologist and Chief of Bureau.
Hon.James Wilson,Secretary of Agriculture.
PageIntroduction5Apparatus for comb-honey production6Shop and honey house6Hives7Sectional hives10Sections and supers10Bee way v. plain sections10Dimensions of sections11Supers12The method of support12Protection13Free communication within the super14The use of separators15Shallow extracting supers16Combination supers16Other apparatus16Preparing supers17Folding sections17Fastening foundation in sections17Manipulation of the bees18Securing workers for the honey flow20Building up the colony in the early spring21The production of gathering bees22Providing sufficient stores23Providing available brood-rearing space23Summary24Using available workers to best advantage during the honey flow25Swarming26Preventive measures26Control measures27Control of natural swarms28Using the removed brood to best advantage29What to use in the brood chamber when hiving swarms32Extreme contraction of the brood chamber when hiving swarms33Swarm control by manipulation34Taking the queen from the hive35Removing the brood from the hive37Separating the queen and brood within the hive40Manipulation of the supers41Caring for the crop44Removing the honey from the hives44Care of comb honey45Scraping propolis from sections45Grading comb honey46Packages for comb honey46Marketing47
PageFig.1.A 10-frame hive with comb-honey super and perforated zinc queen excluder82.Perforated zinc queen excluder93.Beeway and plain sections, unfolded104.Plain section in super, showing method of spacing115.Beeway section in super, showing method of spacing116.Square and oblong sections127.The T super138.Super with section holder for beeway sections139.Super with section holder for square plain section1410.Super with section holder for oblong plain sections1411.Combination super with wide frames for oblong plain sections1512.Bee-escape board for removing bees from supers1713.Drone and queen trap on hive entrance2814.Colony before swarming; supers in place2915.Brood placed in hive turned 00 degrees from old entrance2916.Hive with brood turned back to 45 degrees from old entrance3017.Hive with brood turned parallel to old entrance3018.Hive with brood placed on other side of old entrance3119.Arrangement of supers4220.Shipping cases for comb honey47
The present tendency in beekeeping is decidedly toward the production of extracted honey rather than of comb honey. The recent activity among beekeepers toward specialization, which necessitates the establishing of out-apiaries, and the rapidly increasing demand for extracted honey are among the factors bringing about this condition. Enormous quantities of honey are now used for manufacturing purposes, and this demand is, of course, solely for extracted honey.
If the general public finally becomes convinced of the purity and wholesomeness of extracted honey, this will become a staple article of food. Comb honey to command the higher price—proportionate to the greater cost of production—must justify the extra cost to the consumer by its finer appearance. The consumer of extracted honey is not concerned as to the straightness or finish of the combs in which it was originally stored, but by virtue of its appearance there will probably always be a good demand for the finest grade of comb honey where appearance is the chief consideration. Present tendencies therefore emphasize the desirability of producing comb honey of the most attractive appearance possible.
Well-filled sections of comb honey with delicate white comb and perfect cappings are obtainable only during a rapid honey flow of sufficient duration to insure their completion. The production of comb honey, the appearance of which is sufficient to justify its extra cost, requires a combination of conditions that are peculiar to rather limited areas, outside of which the beekeeper will find it decidedly advantageous to produce extracted honey.
Comb-honey production should not be attempted in localities where the honey flow is very slow or intermittent, where the character of the honey is such that it granulates quickly in the comb while it is on the market, where the honey is dark or "off color," or where honeys from various sources are mixed if these different sources produce honey of different colors and flavors. Local market conditions may of course in some instances be such as to make it seem advisable to produce comb honey in limited quantities in a locality that is not well suited to comb-honey production, but the beekeeper who produces comb honey for the general market should first be sure that his is acomb-honey locality. Even in the best localities during an occasional season conditions are such that it is not possible to produce comb-honey of fine appearance. Some comb-honey specialists find it profitable to provide an equipment for extracted honey for such an emergency. In some cases comb honey is produced only during the height of the season, when conditions are most favorable, extracting supers being used both at the beginning and close of the honey flow.
While the professional beekeeper is thus curtailing the production of indifferent grades of comb honey, bee diseases are rapidly eliminating the careless producers. From the present indications, therefore, it would seem certain that there must be a gradual elimination from the markets of all inferior and indifferent comb honey—grades that must compete directly with extracted honey. This should mark a new era in the production of the beat grades of comb honey in the localities that are peculiarly adapted to comb-honey production. The beekeeper who is thus favorably located will do well to consider the possibilities of future market conditions for a fancy grade of comb honey.
Tho following discussion is necessarily but a brief outline of modern apparatus and methods and of course can not in any sense take the place of the broad experience necessary in profitable comb-honey production. It is assumed that the reader is more or less familiar with the more general phases of beekeeping. (See Farmers' Bulletin No. 447. This bulletin also contains a complete list of publications of the Department of Agriculture on beekeeping.)
A building containing storage space for apparatus, a well-lighted and ventilated workshop as well as a honey room, is a necessity in comb-honey production. The arrangement and location of the shop and honey house will depend upon local conditions and circumstances. Tho usual mistake is in constructing those too small. In the North the shop and honey house is usually built over the wintering repository or collar. Since rats or mice would do great damage to the contents of such a storehouse, the construction should be such as to exclude them. If a concrete foundation is used and the sills are embedded in a layer of "green" mortar, no trouble of this kind should be experienced. If a series of out-apiaries are operated for comb honey, the supers, extra hives, etc, are usually kept in one building located near the home of the beekeeper. This serves as a central station and storehouse, the supplies being hauled to and from the apiaries as needed. This building may be supplemented by avery small building at each apiary, though in comb-honey production this is not really necessary.
The honey room should be so located that it will receive the heat from the sun, preferably an upstairs room immediately under the roof. When so located a small hand elevator should be installed for taking the honey up and down. The room should be papered or ceiled inside to keep out insects and to permit fumigation if necessary and should contain facilities for artificially heating in case continued damp or freezing weather should occur before the honey is marketed. The honey room should be provided with ample floor support for the great weight that may be placed upon it.
A beehive must serve the dual purpose of being a home for a colony of bees and at the same time a tool for the beekeeper. Its main requirements are along the line of its adaptation to the various manipulations of the apiary in so far as these do not materially interfere with the protection and comfort it affords the colony of bees. Since rapid manipulation is greatly facilitated by simple and uniform apparatus, one of the fundamental requirements of the equipment in hives is that they be of the same style and size, with all parts exactly alike and interchangeable throughout the apiary. While the hives and equipment should be as simple and inexpensive as possible, consistent with their various functions, a cheap and poorly constructed beehive is, all things considered, an expensive piece of apparatus.
In this country the Langstroth (or L) frame (91/8by 175/8inches) (fig. 1) is the standard frame and throughout this paper frames of brood will be discussed in terms of this size of frame. The advantages of standard frames and hives are so great that the beekeeper can not afford to ignore them for the sake of some slight advantage of another size.
There is, however, a wide difference of opinion as to the number of frames that should be used in a single hive body. The wide variation in the building up of colonies previous to the honey flow in different localities and seasons, the race of bees, and the skill of the beekeeper are all factors entering into this problem, which make it improbable that beekeepers will ever fully agree on this point. The races that build up more rapidly in the spring are, of course, other things being equal, able to use to advantage a larger brood chamber than the races that are more conservative in brood rearing. It is also noticeable that within certain limits as the beekeeper's skill in building up his colonies for the flow increases, so the size of the brood chamber best adapted to his purpose increases. In other words, while the careful and skillful beekeeper may succeed in having large broodchambers well filled with brood at the beginning of the honey flow, the less skillful beekeeper under similar conditions may be doing well to approximate this condition with a much smaller brood chamber.
Fig. 1.—A 10-frame hive with comb-honey super and perforated zinc queen excluder. (From Phillips.)
Fig. 1.—A 10-frame hive with comb-honey super and perforated zinc queen excluder. (From Phillips.)
For comb-honey production the brood chamber should be of such a size that by proper management it may be well filled with brood at the beginning of the honey flow, so that the brood and surplus apartments maybe definitely separated. A brood chamber may be considered too large if by proper management it is not on an average fairly well filled with brood at the beginning of the honey flow, and too small if it provides an average of less room than the colony is able to occupy with brood previous to the honey flow. Unless the beekeeper practices feeding, a brood chamber that does not contain sufficient room for both winter stores and brood rearing during late summer and autumn may also be considered too small. It may be well to note that by this standard if the brood chamber seems to be too large the fault may lie in the management during the previous autumn, winter, or spring. Of course the brood chamber that is barely large enough for one colony will be too large for another in the same apiary or the character of the season may be such that all brood chambers may be too large for best results one season and too small the next, so an average must be sought. While by manipulation good results may be secured by the use of any of the sizes in common use, any great departure in either direction from the size best suited to conditions of a given locality necessitates an excessive increase in labor to give best results. There is at the present timea strong tendency toward the use of the 10-frame hive body as a medium-sized brood chamber which may be used as a unit of a larger elastic brood chamber when necessary.
Fig. 2.—Perforated zinc queen excluder. (From Phillips.)
Fig. 2.—Perforated zinc queen excluder. (From Phillips.)
The comb-honey producer is more exacting as to certain details of construction of hives than is the producer of extracted honey since it is more necessary for him to handle individual brood frames during the honey flow. The spaces[1]above and between the top bars of the brood frames must be accurate or they will be bridged with burr and brace combs and these filled with honey. Burr and brace combs make the removal and readjustment of the super and the manipulation of frames a slow and disagreeable task, to say nothing of the waste of material, which should have been placed in the sections in the beginning. The use of the slatted honey board (fig. 2), while preventing brace combs between itself and the super, does not prevent the building of burr and brace combs between and above the top bars of the frames. This trouble is largely eliminated by proper spacing. Most hive manufacturers are at present making the top bars of the brood frames of such a width that the spaces between them is from one-fourth to five-sixteenths inch with the same spacing above them. The difficulty, however, is in maintaining this spacing with any great degree of accuracy. Self-spacing frames[2]are a partial solution of this difficulty. In some localities, however, the ordinary self-spacing frames are so badly propolized as to render their removal from the brood chamber difficult as well as materially to interfere with the proper spacing. The advantages of such frames are then nullified, while their disadvantages are retained or even intensified. In such localities metal spacers having but small surfaces of contact are sometimes used. Some beekeepers prefer omitting the spacers entirely. However, some of the difficulties arising from the use of self-spacing frames are the result of carelessness on the part of the operator in not crowding the frames together properly when closing the hive after having handled the frames.
[1]A bee space, or that space to which bees are least inclined to put comb or propolis, is perhaps a scant one-fourth inch. In hive construction one-fourth or five-sixteenths inch is usually used.
[1]A bee space, or that space to which bees are least inclined to put comb or propolis, is perhaps a scant one-fourth inch. In hive construction one-fourth or five-sixteenths inch is usually used.
[2]These are so constructed that the end bars are one-fourth or five-sixteenths inch wider than the top bars throughout a portion of their length or furnished with projections of metal fitted to the edges of the frame. In either case the adjustment is such that when the frames are crowded together in the hive the spaces between the top bars will be correct.
[2]These are so constructed that the end bars are one-fourth or five-sixteenths inch wider than the top bars throughout a portion of their length or furnished with projections of metal fitted to the edges of the frame. In either case the adjustment is such that when the frames are crowded together in the hive the spaces between the top bars will be correct.
The sectional hive in which the brood chamber is composed of two or more shallow hive bodies, making it horizontally divisible, offers some advantages, especially to the comb-honey specialist. Most of the ordinary manipulations can be performed readily with such hives without removing the frames. One of their greatest advantages in comb-honey production is the rapidity with which the apiarist can examine the colonies for queen cells if natural swarming is to be controlled by manipulation. They are also very elastic, the units or sections usually being of 5-L frame capacity, permitting a brood chamber capacity of 5 or any multiple of 5-L frames. Among the disadvantages of these hives are the extra cost owing to the greater number of parts necessary in their construction and the difficulty in maintaining proper spacing without the use of top bars on the frames heavier than would seem advisable in the middle of the brood nest.
There is a wide variation in the style of sections and the supers designed to contain them. This, whole to some extent brought about by different local conditions, is largely due merely to the notions of individual beekeepers. Comb-honey apparatus could probably be standardized without sacrificing any really vital features.
There are two general styles of sections in common use differing in the method of spacing—the beeway section in which the spacer is a part of the section itself (fig. 5), and the plain in which the spacer is a permanent part of the separator (fig. 4). Each style has its advocates and each offers some advantages.
Fig. 3.—Beeway and plain sections, unfolded. (Original.)
Fig. 3.—Beeway and plain sections, unfolded. (Original.)
Some of the advantages of the plain (fig. 3) over the beeway sections are: (1) They are simpler in construction, therefore costingless. (2) The edges being plain with no insets, the plain sections are more easily cleaned of propolis when being prepared for market and are especially adapted to cleaning by machinery. (3) By leaving the spacers in the super, sections of the same honey content occupy less space in the shipping case, thus reducing the cost of packages. (4) The plain section is adapted to an arrangement permitting freer communication lengthwise of the row of sections, especially at the corners (p. 15).
Fig. 4.—Plain section In super, showing method of spacing. (Original.)
Fig. 4.—Plain section In super, showing method of spacing. (Original.)
Some of the advantages of the beeway sections (fig. 3) are: (1) The honey is somewhat less liable to injury by handling. (2) Being wider at the corners where folded, they are stronger. (3) Some markets, being accustomed to the larger cases necessary to contain a given number of beeway sections, object to the smaller package containing the same number of plain sections, simply because it is smaller.
Fig. 5.—Beeway section In super, showing method of spacing. (Original.)
Fig. 5.—Beeway section In super, showing method of spacing. (Original.)
Sections of various dimensions are in use by beekeepers, but the sizes in general use are the 41/4inches square and the 4 by 5 inches. Some producers prefer the 4 by 5 sections because of the more pleasing appearance of the oblong package (fig. 6). The standard widths of the 41/4by 41/4inches section are 17/8inches in the beeway style and 11/2inches in the plain section. The extra width in the beeway style is for the purpose of spacing and does not add to the thickness of the comb. The 4 by 5 is 13/8or 11/2inches wide in the plain style and not much used in the beeway style. The 13/8width of the 4 by 5 section contains practically the same amount of honey when filled as the41/4by 41/4by 11/2plain or the 41/4by 41/4by 17/8beeway, assuming of course that all are used with separators and filled under like conditions. Since there are well-defined limits as to the thickness of the combs most profitable to produce, the area of one comb surface in a section weighing about a pound is usually from 16 to 20 square inches, the exact size and shape being an adaptation to given space in the super. The thinner combs, showing more comb surface, have the appearance of being larger and a greater number can be accommodated on a given hive. Honey in such combs may also be ripened sooner and possibly better than in thicker combs. They, however, require more foundation for each pound of honey produced and a slightly greater amount of wax, in proportion to the honey, to complete them. Also the thinner the comb, the greater the difficulty with the sheets of foundation swinging to one side on account of uneven work on the two sides or because the hives do not stand level.
Fig. 6.—Square and oblong sections. (Original.)
Fig. 6.—Square and oblong sections. (Original.)
The main points of difference between the various types of comb-honey supers are in (1) the method of supporting the sections, (2) the amount of protection afforded to the outside of the section and (3) the degree of free communication from section to section within the super.
The Method of Support.
Sections are supported either by means of cross supports under the ends of the sections or by a slat of proper width supporting each row of sections. The T super (fig. 7), so called from the shape of a cross section of the strip of tin used to support the sections is illustrativeof the first, while the supporting slats, section holders (figs.8,9and10), and wide frames (fig. 11) are illustrative of the second type of support.
Fig. 7.—The T super. (Original.)
Fig. 7.—The T super. (Original.)
Protection.
The T super and others of this type offer no protection against propolizing to either the top or bottom of the sections, the section holder or slat (figs.8,9and10) protects the bottom, while in the wide frame (fig. 11) the entire outer surface of the sections is protected except at the edges. The greater the protection afforded the section, the more complicated and expensive the super, and the more complicated supers require more labor in cleaning of propolis and filling with sections. On the other hand, sections of honey produced in properly constructed wide-frame supers are much more easily cleaned of propolis, and ordinarily present a neater appearance when packed for market.
Fig. 8.—Super with section holder for beeway sections. (Original.)
Fig. 8.—Super with section holder for beeway sections. (Original.)
Free Communication Within the Super.
The use of closed-top sections (1-beeway) and solid separators, making each section a separate compartment with openings for the bees at the bottom only, illustrates one extreme; while the sections with openings on all four sides (4-beeway) used without separators illustrate the other extreme as to free communication; and between these extremes are various intermediate types.
Fig. 9.—Super with section holder for square plain sections. (Original.)
Fig. 9.—Super with section holder for square plain sections. (Original.)
Fig. 10.—Super with section holder for oblong plain sections. (Original.)
Fig. 10.—Super with section holder for oblong plain sections. (Original.)
It would be desirable so to adjust the sections that when filled with honey a row of them would, so far as the bees are concerned, be equivalent to a single comb, that the bees might have the same free access to the outside row of cells from all sides as they do the other cells and might pass up or down from any section and the full length of the row, as well as around the ends. While, under the same conditions, such free access to the outside row of cells from allsides would result in the sections being slightly better filled than with the ordinary adjustments, such an arrangement presents some mechanical difficulties and would add considerable to the first cost of the supers. If separators were not necessary, such an adjustment of sections could be readily accomplished. In Europe a type of separator having transverse openings corresponding to the upright edges of the sections is used to give free communication lengthwise of the row of sections. In this country some such separators are used as well as a separator made of wire cloth so spaced between the rows of sections as to give free communication along the rows, as well as from one row to another. These, however, are not widely used in the United States.
Fig. 11.—Combination super with wide frames for oblong plain sections. (Original.)
Fig. 11.—Combination super with wide frames for oblong plain sections. (Original.)
The plain section, when used in connection with the "fence" separator (fig. 4), having the upright posts considerably shorter than the height of the section, offers a fair compromise as to free communication within the super. Most of the comb honey produced in this country, however, is produced in sections which offer no communication from section to section lengthwise of the super, being produced in the regular 2-beeway section, having openings at the top and bottom only (figs.7and8).
Separators are made of strips of tin or wood and are used between the rows of sections to compel the tees to build the combs straight and all within the section. The thicker the combs the greater becomes the necessity for separators. While an expert can produce very uniform comb honey without separators during a heavy honey flow by using very narrow sections, it is usually not advisable to doso on account of the resulting large percentage of imperfect combs, especially during poor and indifferent seasons and at the close of any season. The use of separators results in a much more uniform product.
Some comb-honey producers add to their equipment one shallow extracting super for each colony. These are a great convenience in a comb-honey apiary and may be used for the following purposes: (1) To keep the brood chamber free of honey before the beginning of the main honey flow; (2) to use at the beginning of the honey flow to induce the bees to begin work promptly in the supers; (3) to use at the close of the honey flow instead of the last comb-honey super; (4) to use during any flow of inferior honey or honeydew; (5) to use during very poor seasons when first-class comb honey can not be produced.
Other comb-honey producers provide each comb-honey super with two shallow extracting combs. These are placed one on each side of the super with the sections between them (fig. 11). The purpose of this arrangement is to induce the bees to begin work in the super promptly without the use of "bait sections" (sections containing comb previously drawn) or an extracting super and also to do away with the usual poorly finished sections in the corners and outside rows. One great advantage of this system over the use of an extracting super to start early super work is that the combs are not removed. When shallow extracting supers are used for this purpose, they are removed as soon as the bees have started well in them and a comb-honey super substituted. This brings back much the same conditions existing before giving the extracting super, and while some colonies will begin work in the sections promptly when the change is made, many colonies hesitate about beginning the new work almost as though the extracting super had not been used. Such colonies are thus thrown out of "condition", (p. 19) and may begin preparations to swarm. The use of these combs in supers that are added subsequently allows the apiarist to place the empty super over the one already on the hive until the bees begin work therein without seriously crowding the super room, because each super thus added contains room in the form of empty comb into which the new nectar may be stored at once (seep. 42).
Among the other apparatus needed in commercial comb-honey production are a honey extractor, wax press, bee-escapes, and escapeboards (fig. 12), queen-excluding honey boards (fig. 2), feeders, tools, etc. It is not necessary to provide queen-excluding honey boards for each colony unless some special system is followed, yet a few excluders are very desirable for various special manipulations. Good feeders may be had by using tin pans in connection with an empty super. A handful of grass should be placed on the sirup to prevent the bees from drowning. In addition to these appliances in the northern States, if the hives are single walled, some means of protection is necessary if the colonies are wintered out of doors.