The main difference to be observed in preparing colonies for the
production of comb honey, instead of extracted, is in the adjustment of
the brood apartment at the time the supers are added. After the colony
has been bred up to the greatest possible strength, the brood apartment
should be so regulated in size, when the honey flow begins and the
supers are added, as to crowd many of the bees out and into the supers
placed above.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.--Automatic reversible honey
extractor.]
On each hive a super is placed (fig. 11) holding 24 to 48 sections,
each section supplied with a strip or a full sheet of very thin
foundation. It is best not to give too much space at once, as
considerable warmth is necessary to enable the bees to draw out
foundation or to build comb. A single set of sections is usually
sufficient at a time. When the honey is designed for home use or for a
local market, half-depth frames are sometimes used, the same as those
often used above the brood nests when colonies are run for extracted
honey, but for the general market pound sections (fig. 12) are better
adapted.
It is the practice of many to have nice white comb partially drawn out
before the main honey flow begins, or even the season before, feeding
the colonies, if necessary, to secure this; and, when the honey yield
begins, to supply sets of sections with these combs having cells
deep enough for the bees to begin storing in as soon as any honey is
collected. Earlier work in the sections is thus secured, and this, as
is well known, is an important point in the prevention of swarming.
Mr. Samuel Simmins, of England, has long contended for this use of
partially drawn combs, and though it forms a feature of his system
for the prevention of swarming it has been too often overlooked. Comb
foundation is now manufactured with extra thin septum or base and with
the beginnings of the cells marked out by somewhat thicker walls which
the bees immediately thin down, using the extra wax in deepening the
cells. This is not artificial comb, but a thin sheet of wax having
the bases of the cells outlined on it. Complete artificial combs have
never been used in a commercial way, although there exists a widespread
belief to this effect, which is founded on extravagant claims that have
appeared from time to time in newspaper articles.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Langstroth hive--super above holding
28 sections for comb honey.]
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Comb honey stored in pound
section--size 4-1/4 by 4-1/4 inches.]
If the brood apartment has been much contracted when the supers were
added, the queen may go into the sections and deposit eggs unless
prevented by the insertion of a queen excluder (fig. 13). This, merely
a sheet of zinc with perforations which permit workers, but not the
queen, to pass, is placed between the brood apartment and the supers.
The great inconvenience of having brood in some of the sections is
thereby prevented. When the honey in the sections has been nearly
capped over, the super may be lifted up and another added between it
and the brood apartment. Or, should the strength of the colony not be
sufficient, or the harvest not abundant enough to warrant the giving
of so much space, the sections which are completely finished may
be removed and the partly finished ones used as "bait sections" to
encourage work in another set of sections on this hive or in new supers
elsewhere. The objections to the removal of sections one by one, and
brushing the bees from them, are (1) the time it takes, and (2) the
danger that the bees when disturbed, and especially if smoked, will
bite open the capping and begin the removal of the honey, thus injuring
the appearance of the completed sections.
A recent valuable invention, the bee escape (fig. 3), the use of which
is explained on pages 15 and 16, when placed between the super and the
brood nest, permits the bees then above the escape to go down into
the brood apartment, but does not permit their reentering the super.
If inserted twelve to twenty-four hours before the sections are to
be removed, the latter will be found free from bees at the time of
removal, provided all brood has been kept out of the supers.
=Grading and shipping comb honey.=--Before marketing the honey it
should be carefully graded, and all propolis ("bee-glue"), if there
be any, scraped from the edges of the sections. In grading for the
city markets the following rules are, in the main, observed. They
were adopted by the North American Bee-Keepers' Association at its
twenty-third annual convention, held in Washington, D. C, in December,
1892, and are copied from the official report of that meeting:
=Fancy.=--All sections to be well filled; combs straight, of even
thickness, and firmly attached to all four sides; both wood and comb
unsoiled by travel stain or otherwise; all cells sealed except the row
of cells next to the wood.
=No. 1.=--All sections well filled, but with combs crooked or
uneven, detached at the bottom, or with but few cells unsealed; both
wood and comb unsoiled by travel stain or otherwise.
In addition to the above, honey is to be classified, according to
color, into light, amber, and dark. For instance, there will be "fancy
light," "fancy amber," and "fancy dark," "No. 1 light," "No. 1 amber,"
and "No. 1 dark."
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Perforated zinc queen excluder.]
The sections, after grading and scraping, are to be placed in clean
shipping cases having glass in one or both ends (fig. 14). Several of
these may be placed in a single crate for shipment. To prevent breaking
down of the combs it is best to put straw in the bottom of the crate
for the shipping cases to rest on, and the crates should be so placed
as to keep the combs in a perpendicular position. The crates are also
likely to be kept right side up if convenient handles are attached
to the sides--preferably strips with the ends projecting beyond the
corners. Care in handling will generally be given if the glass in the
shipping cases shows.
[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Shipping cases for comb honey.]
Owing to the appearance of statements of a sensational character to
the effect that complete honey combs are manufactured by machinery and
filled with sweets lower in price than honey (glucose, cane sugar, or
mixtures of these), then sealed over and sold in the market as genuine
honey, a strong suspicion exists regarding the comb honey commonly
offered for sale. Wide circulation has been given to these wild stories
by sensational newspaper writers, and even monthly periodicals, usually
far more discriminating and accurate, have repeated them. Some writers
have even tried to locate the "comb honey factories" in given cities,
but investigation has always shown that the locations were mythical.
The forfeit of $1,000 which a reputable firm has had standing for
fifteen years past for a pound of manufactured comb honey of a nature
to deceive the buyer still remains unclaimed.
The National Bee-Keepers' Association, at its annual convention held
in St. Louis in 1904, offered also a like forfeit of $1,000 for
satisfactory proof of the existence of such a thing as manufactured
comb honey. But no claimant has come forward, notwithstanding the
$2,000 which awaits his proof. The fact is, there is no truth in the
"yarn," and no one has thus far shown the thing possible. The comb
honey in the markets is pure and wholesome--a healthful and nourishing
sweet, easier to digest than cane sugar or any of the sirups so
commonly sold. It is worth a place on the tables of all who can afford
to use it.