=SECURING SURPLUS HONEY AND WAX.=
If the colonies of bees have been brought to the opening of a given
honey flow with a powerful population recently hatched it will require
no great skill to secure a good crop, granted, of course, that the
flowers actually do secrete the nectar. In the ordinary course of
events some colonies are likely to come through to the early harvest
in good shape, but if all those contained in a large apiary are in
prime order at this time it is good evidence of skill on the part of
the attendant, this even though the weather and other circumstances
may have favored his work. To secure a yield of surplus honey the part
remaining to be done, if all goes well, is merely to put the surplus
receptacles in place, admit the bees, and remove the combs when filled
and sealed. But if swarming complications arise the whole of the bee
keeper's skill and ingenuity may again be called into requisition to
keep the forces together and storing in the surplus receptacles. Should
the expected harvest not come--that is, should the flowers from which
the yield is anticipated not secrete honey, or should they bloom when
the weather would not permit the bees to fly--of course no amount of
skill could make up the deficiency. In such a case all that can be
done is to carry the colonies through to the next honey yield in good
shape--to keep up (by feeding if necessary) the populousness of the
colonies. The flow may begin suddenly or before it is looked for; it
may be excellent for only a very short time, a day or two even, and be
cut off short in the midst of its greatest abundance. Thus the skill
lies in having the colonies ready for whatever may come and a force
sufficient to store the whole season's surplus in a few days.
EXTRACTED HONEY.
One of the most important points in securing extracted honey is to
have a large stock of surplus combs. These, with the strong colonies
of bees to utilize them, and the honey extractor, are the great
requisites of the producer of extracted honey. As fast as the bees
can cover and utilize them, these combs are added to the colonies,
one or two at a time from the opening of the season until the brood
apartment is full. As soon as more combs than the lower story will
hold are needed a second story filled with combs may be added, or but
two or three may be placed in it at one side with a division board
next to them. It is a good plan to sort over the combs of the brood
apartment, removing several of the less regular ones, or if all are
alike as regards regularity and in having worker cells only, but some
contain considerable honey and little brood, these are to be removed
and the empty space filled in with good worker combs. The removed
combs should be placed in the top story, which, if the weather and
the strength of the colony permit, is to be filled out with combs at
once. The strongest colonies will, of course, begin work first, and
can often spare partly filled combs to be placed in the top stories
of less populous colonies, thus encouraging the latter to begin work
in the upper stories. It is safe to say that in general more than
twice the yield of honey can be obtained from colonies supplied during
the whole honey flow, with all the completed combs they are able to
utilize, than can be expected from colonies that have to build all of
the combs for their surplus while storing. Completed combs not being
available, comb foundation in full sheets should be employed. During
the early part of the harvest this will be drawn out very quickly and
aid greatly in securing the honey which otherwise might be lost for
want of store combs as fast as might be needed. During a fair yield the
foundation will pay for itself the first season in the extra amount
of honey, and the combs, properly cared for, can be used year after
year--indefinitely, in fact--for extracting. The best of them should be
picked out constantly to replace less desirable ones that may be found
in the brood apartment, or to give to new swarms destined to produce
extracted honey. Some prefer for the surplus cases frames half the
depth of ordinary brood frames, finding them easier to manipulate.
Whenever the combs of a top story are nearly filled, and before they
are completely sealed, it may be lifted up and another story, filled
with empty combs, placed between it and the brood apartment, and this
may be continued until the end of the honey flow, and all may be left
on the hive during the warm weather. It would, of course, be easier
to add the new stories successively at the top--that is, above the
partially filled surplus stories--and this plan works well as long as
the honey flow is abundant, but when put on just as the yield slackens,
even if but little, or when the weather is cool, the bees may refuse to
begin work in the new super unless it is placed between the partially
filled ones and the brood apartment. Leaving the filled top stories
on the hives for some time permits the more complete evaporation of
the moisture contained in the newly gathered honey, and by marking
the stories the honey from a certain source, when the yield has been
sufficient to get the combs filled and sealed, can be extracted by
itself. If the supply of combs is insufficient to hold the whole
amount gathered, it must then be extracted as fast as sealed, lest the
bees, lacking ready cells in which to deposit their surplus as fast
as gathered, hang idly about, or if space for new combs exists, only
slowly provide these, losing meanwhile much of the harvest. When sealed
the honey will generally be found fairly ripened, though it may improve
by being stored in open buckets or cans in a dry, warm room.
[Illustration: Fig. 55.--Uncapping and extracting honey. (Original.)]
The process of extracting is extremely simple, and a little practice
will enable an observing person to do it well (fig. 55). As indicated
above, some judgment is required in the selection of combs, regard
being had to the future condition of the colony. The filled comb-, as
fast as removed, are placed in a light case the size of a hive, or a
tin can made specially for the purpose, covered closely to prevent the
access of robbers, and taken to the extracting room, which should be
bee-proof. It is not always necessary to use such care in excluding all
bees, but the novice should practice it until he learns to distinguish
by the actions of the bees when such precautions may be dispensed
with. Whenever possible the stories containing surplus honey should
be lifted up and honey boards containing bee escapes slipped between
them and the brood apartment early in the morning of the day before
the extracting is to be done, in case the bees are still gathering,
otherwise the night before will do. The combs will then be free from
bees, or nearly so, when the operator wishes to remove them, and will
contain no honey gathered within twenty-four hours, the last day's
gathering having also been ripened considerably during the night
preceding the insertion of the escapes. When the queen has not been
restricted in her laying to the lower story by means of excluders,
this plan of freeing the combs of bees will fail in case the escapes
are placed on lower stories above which the brood and the queen may
be. The only way then will be to remove the combs one by one, after
smoking the bees to quiet them, and shake or brush off the latter into
the top story. Italians can not be shaken off unless their bodies are
pretty well filled with honey, but they may be safely brushed off after
smoking. For this a single large feather from the left wing of a turkey
is best. Other races can be shaken off after smoking. Eastern bees
should never be brushed from the combs when extracting, nor at any time
unless they are gorged with honey. They can all be shaken off easily,
and will need less smoke than the European races.
When much extracting is to be done, top stories of hives or light
cases with cloth covers, weighted with a rod sewed into the loose
edge, may be used to hold the full combs as fast as taken from the
hives, and these, placed on a wheelbarrow, cart, or car, can be easily
transported to the extracting room. The uncapping knife, kept in hot
water when not in use, is passed rapidly under the capping of the
sealed combs, the point of it being used to reach depressed surfaces.
The loosened cappings drop into a sieve resting over a pan, or into
the upper part of a can specially designed to receive cappings. The
small amount of honey removed with the cappings drains through the
strainer and is drawn off below. The uncapped combs are placed in
the extractor at once. As the cells generally slant upward more or
less, especially those built for store cells outside the brood nest,
the throwing out of the honey is facilitated by placing each comb in
such a manner as to bring the top bar at the right hand, the basket
being revolved in the most natural way--that is, from right to left.
A little practice will enable the operator to note the speed required
in order to free the combs entirely from honey, which will depend, of
course, upon the consistency of the honey and the length of time combs
are revolved. While it is, in general, best to avoid extracting from
combs containing brood, cases will arise where it is necessary. If the
brood is sealed, there will, be less liability of injuring it than
when open cells containing larvæ are placed in the extractor; but a
moderate degree of speed continued somewhat longer will usually bring
the honey out without disturbance to the immature bees. Three persons
can work together very advantageously--one to remove the surplus cases
or combs from the hives, free them of their bees, and bring them into
the extracting room, where two assistants uncap and extract the honey.
If the bees are not gathering honey and are therefore prone to rob,
the person who removes the combs from the hives should be assisted by
an active boy who can cover hives or cases quickly or lift the latter
when necessary. The combs when emptied may be returned at once to the
hives if the bees are still engaged in storing. The slight damage which
they have sustained under the uncapping knife or in the extractor will
soon be repaired; indeed, with a little experience the uncappers will
be able to smooth and trim irregular combs in such a way as to render
them straighter after they have been through the extractor. It is
particularly desirable, in order to straighten the combs of transferred
colonies and get them in good working trim, that they be run for
extracted honey during the first year or two; moreover, a good yield of
extracted honey is more likely to be obtained from recently transferred
colonies than comb honey, especially if the manipulators are beginners
in the work.
When the extracting is done after the close of the gathering period,
the greatest care should be taken not to start robbing. The surplus
combs should be returned to the hives just before nightfall, and not
even a taste of sweets of any kind should be left exposed. The object
in returning the combs is to have them cleaned up, and also to have
them under the protection of the bees until cool weather puts a stop
to the destructive work of wax-moth larvæ. When sharp frosts occur,
the surplus combs may be removed from the hives and placed in a dry,
cold room. An open loft (if not infested with mice or if the combs are
protected from the latter) is a good place, and it is much better to
place the combs so they do not touch each other.
COMB HONEY.
The general directions given in the preceding chapter on spring
manipulation to secure populous colonies apply as well to those
designed for comb honey as to those which are to produce extracted
honey. If any difference is to be observed it is even more important
that the former be brought to the opening of the honey flow with the
brood combs compactly filled with developing bees to the exclusion
of honey, than that the latter should be so; and colonies not strong
enough to enter sections readily, if at all, may still be utilized, and
often do fairly well in the production of extracted honey.
The old-fashioned surplus boxes holding 25 to 30 pounds are regarded
quite as relics of the past by those who use frame hives and produce
comb honey in fine marketable shape, and even if for home consumption
the pound (fig. 50) and 12-pound sections are always preferred, since
they are so cheap, permit the use of comb foundation, and are in neat
shape and of convenient size for the table.
[Illustration: Fig. 56.--One-piece V-grooved section. (From Gleanings.)]
Section holders (fig. 57) with sections folded and in place, each
section supplied with thin foundation, preferably full sheets, but at
least guides, should be in readiness before the opening of the harvest.
Forty to fifty sections for each hive should be prepared. One-piece
sections, if bought in the flat, should be placed in the cellar for two
or three days before folding. If the section back of the V-joints is
then moistened slightly they can be set up rapidly without breakage.
Sections made of white poplar are by far the neatest looking and do
not cost much if any more than basswood, so that bee keepers might
show their disapproval of the wholesale destruction of our basswood or
linden timber by resolutely refusing to buy sections made of that wood.
The four-piece sections, if well made, are preferable to the one-piece.
The latter do not keep their shape as firmly as the four-piece
sections, which are made with lock joints at all the corners.
[Illustration: Fig. 57.--Super with sections and section holders in
place: A, super; D, separator; E, sections; F, follower; G, wedge.
(From Gleanings.)]
The foundation for sections should be the quality known as "thin
surplus" or, preferably, if full sheets be used, "extra-thin surplus."
These grades are made of selected, light-colored wax, and 1 pound
furnishes full sheets for 100 to 125 standard sections (4¼ by 4¼
inches). The sheets should be cut no larger than 3¾ inches square.
These will take up about three-sixteenths of an inch in fastening,
which will leave nearly one-half inch space between the lower edge and
the bottom piece of the section and allow the foundation to stretch
while being drawn out. This is necessary, otherwise the partially
completed comb will bulge as soon as it reaches the bottom of the
section. In cutting foundation either for sections or frames one
edge--the one to be attached--should be perfectly straight. To secure
this not more than six to ten sheets (depending on their thickness)
should be laid in one pile, and a sharp, thin-bladed knife, as well
as a straight rule, used. Two or three piles may be laid side by
side and with a rule long enough to reach across them all a dozen to
thirty sheets can be cut at a time. Dipping the knife in warm water
facilitates the work.
The sheets are fastened in the section by the use of one of the
machines mentioned on page 52. They secure the wax to the wood by
pressure combined in some instances with heat. Fig. 40 shows one of
these. The simplest form consists merely of a sliding lever hinged to
a block. It is intended to be fastened by means of screws to a table
or bench, and is then ready for use when the lever is moistened with
honey, starch water, or soapsuds along the edge which is to touch the
wax sheets. The foundation is laid flat on the top piece of the section
in such a way that the straight edge passes the center line one-eighth
of an inch, and the whole is then slipped under the lever. The latter
is brought down with a sliding motion toward the operator and at the
same time the foundation is bent up at right angles to the top piece.
If the wax is slightly soft it will adhere firmly. A heated brick
placed before the pile of starters will keep the edges soft enough if
the work is done in a moderately warm room.
Starters half to three-fourths inch in width are sometimes used at the
bottoms of sections to secure firm attachment of combs there. Bees
incline to gnaw these bottom starters away unless the top pieces of
foundation reach within one-half inch of them. Top starters an inch or
less in width may be used alone as comb guides when it is desirable to
avoid great outlay for foundation.
The use of strips of tin or wood as separators (fig. 57, D) between the
sections insures straight combs with smooth surfaces, thus convenient
to handle and ship.
The sections furnished with starters or full sheets of foundation are
slipped with separators into supers and piled away ready for use as
soon as the harvest opens.
PUTTING ON SECTIONS.
It is better not to put surplus honey receptacles on the hive until the
honey flow actually begins, as, of course, no work will be done in them
until then. Moreover, all the heat is needed in the brood apartment
during the early part of the season. The bees might also become
discouraged by the large amount of empty space and might not begin work
in it at all before swarming. The sections would also be soiled by the
bees crawling over them and daubing them with propolis.
The bee keeper who is familiar with the honey-producing flora of his
locality will note the development of the flower buds of any plant
from which he expects a crop and will be able to judge accurately by
a glance at the colony when sections are needed. The beginner will do
well to consult carefully the list of honey-producing plants given in
the chapter on "Bee pasturage," and also endeavor by inquiry in his
neighborhood to ascertain what other sources, if any, are within the
reach of his bees. The usual time of blooming of all principal honey
plants should be noted, and the management to secure populous colonies
having been in accordance with the directions given in Chapter VII on
"Spring manipulation," the opening of the first blossoms of any one of
the important honey yielders should be the signal for placing supers
with sections on all hives intended for comb honey production. Should
these indications not be sufficient, there is still another which
no one could mistake. It is to examine the tops of the brood combs
from time to time and note when the store cells between the brood and
the top bar are being made deeper by added wax. The fresh, whitened
appearance which such combs present when viewed from above readily
distinguishes them from the yellow or dark combs wholly built during
previous seasons. The lower edges of partially completed combs will
also show additions at the same time.
[Illustration: Fig. 58.--Dadant-Quinby form of Langstroth hive,
elevated from bottom board and slid back for ventilation in summer.
(Redrawn from Langstroth.)]
It having been determined that the time to put on sections has arrived,
the quilt used over the frames is removed and the super, with section
holders, sections, and separators in place, is set over the frames. A
clean enameled or carriage-cloth quilt should be laid over the tops
of the sections, if these are open above, and this weighted down
with a board which has been clamped to prevent warping. At this time
the flight hole should be full width and the hive protected from the
direct rays of the sun during the hotter portions of the day. With
small, single-walled hives, such as hold eight combs or less, it may be
necessary, if the hives are crowded with bees, to raise them slightly
from the bottom board or slide them back, so as to give small openings
at the rear. Mr. Simmins's plan of placing below the brood nest a hive
chamber with starters only in the frames permits the bees to avoid
clustering too compactly and yet to keep up their work inside during
extremely hot weather. Ventilation and shading of hives assist greatly
toward the prevention of swarming, and having bred the colony up until
it is sufficiently strong to take advantage of the harvest, and having
reached the opening of that harvest, it is desirable by all means to
keep the forces together as long as the flow lasts. (Fig. 58.)
[Illustration: Fig. 59.--Langstroth hive with combined surplus case and
shipping crate. (Original.)]
The supers should be removed as fast as fairly filled. The bees are
slow in sealing over the outside sections; therefore it is better not
to lose time waiting for these to be completely capped, but replace
the whole with a new set. Some prefer to lift up the super when about
three-fourths completed and place the empty one below--that is, between
it and the brood chamber. The objection to this plan is that by the
time the sections placed above have been fully completed they will have
more or less propolis daubed on them and the combs will be considerably
soiled by the bees running over them. A better plan to secure the
completion of the outside sections is, after removing a number of
supers, to select enough incomplete Sections to fill one super, Which
is then placed on a strong colony for completion, or the partly filled
sections may be used in the middle of new supers as bait sections to
induce the bees to cluster and begin work in them at once.
[Illustration: Fig. 60.--Honey shipping-cases. (From Gleanings.)]
Notwithstanding such precautions for the prevention of swarming
as shading the hives, ventilation, having only young queens, and
the removal of the outside combs, substituting for them frames of
foundations or starters near the center of the brood nest, swarms
will sometimes issue, especially from hives devoted to comb-honey
production. The best plan in this case is to hive the swarm in a clean
new hive whose frames have been filled with starters and place this on
the stand of the parent colony, moving the latter to a new position
or more feet away. The swarm in its new quarters will then be joined
by the rest of the field workers from the parent hive, and the whole
tone, reunited and having for some days no brood to care for, will
constitute a strong colony for storing honey. The super of partly
finished sections should be lifted, bees and all, from the parent hive
and placed on the brood chamber of the new colony.
The supers should be promptly removed at the close of the honey
harvest, honey boards with bee escapes in them being used to free
them from bees, as described under the head of "Extracting." If the
gathering season for the year has also ended, an examination of
the brood apartment should be made to determine whether feeding is
necessary, either to prolong brood rearing or for winter stores.
PRODUCTION OF WAX.
The progressive apiarist of the present time does not look upon the
production of wax in so great a proportion compared with his honey
yield as did the old-time box-hive bee keeper. The latter obtained much
of his honey for the market by crushing the combs and straining it out,
leaving the crushed combs to be melted up for their wax. Before the
use of supers late swarms and many colonies quite heavy in honey were
smothered by the use of sulphur; the light ones because their honey
supply would not bring them through the winter, and the very heavy
ones because of the rich yield in honey. Frequent losses of bees in
wintering and through queenlessness gave more combs for melting, as
without frame hives; honey extractors, or comb-foundation machines, the
vacated combs were not often utilized again. The wax from the pressed
combs was all marketed, since there could be but little home use for it.
The bee keeper of to-day, after having removed the honey from the
combs by centrifugal force, returns them, but slightly injured, to be
refilled by the bees, and at the end of the season these combs are
stored away for use in successive years, or he secures the surplus,
also apart from the brood, in neat sectional boxes, to be marketed as
stored--that is, without cutting.
The wax must therefore come from the cappings of combs where extracted
honey is produced, from occasional broken comb, bits of drone comb
that are cut out to be replaced by worker comb, from unfinished and
travel-stained sections from which the honey has been extracted, or
from old brood combs that need to be replaced. Since the price per
pound of extracted honey is usually not less than one-third and that
of comb honey one-half the price of wax, and it has already been
indicated (p. 28) that some 12 to 15 pounds of honey may in general be
safely reckoned as necessary to produce 1 pound of comb, it can readily
be seen that it is much more profitable to turn the working force,
in so far as possible, to the production of honey rather than wax,
taking only as much wax as can be produced without lowering the yield
of honey; and what wax is taken is practically turned into honey the
following year, for it is made into comb foundation, which, judiciously
used, increases in turn the season's yield of honey.
Wax being so much more valuable than honey, it behooves the bee keeper
to save even the smallest pieces of comb; but during warm weather they
must not be left long or they will serve as breeding places for the
wax moth, unless fumigated with burning sulphur or exposed to the fumes
of bisulphide of carbon two or three times each month until no more
eggs of the moth remain.
The old way of rendering wax was to put the combs into a sack made of
some open stuff', weight this down in a kettle of water, and boil for
some time. The wax rose, and when cold was removed in a cake. This
process, besides being dauby, often yielded inferior wax--burned,
water-soaked, or filled with settlings.
[Illustration: Fig. 61.--The Boardman solar wax extractor. (From
Gleanings.)]
The most approved method of rendering wax is, for moderate-sized
apiaries at least, by means of the solar wax extractor (fig. 61),
already mentioned under the head of "Implements." Its management is
very simple. The machine is placed in the sunniest spot in or near the
apiary, and all of the wax cappings, after having been drained of honey
or worked over by the bees, as well as bits of comb, are thrown into
the receiver above the wire strainer, the glass is adjusted, and the
whole is turned so that the direct rays of the sun enter. More bits
of comb are added from time to time during the day. The melted wax
trickles through the strainer and collects in a tin placed at the lower
edge of the tank or melter. The cake is removed each morning, it having
cooled and contracted during the night sufficiently to cause the mass
to cleave readily from the vessel.
The solar wax extractor can be used during four or five months of the
year in the more northern States, and for a longer time in the South.
To render wax at other times steam heat is best. When available a jet
from a boiler may be connected with a barrel or vessel containing the
combs and a large amount rendered in a short time. In smaller apiaries
a steam extractor for use over a boiler on the stove may be employed
(fig. 30). The manner of using these extractors is simple. The cappings
and bits of comb to be rendered are placed in an inside basket made of
perforated metal. Upon placing this over a water boiler, into which it
tits closely, the steam rises through holes in the bottom of the upper
can and readily penetrates the mass. The melted wax runs out through a
spout at the lower edge of the upper can and is caught in a pan partly
filled with warm water. As fast as the mass in the perforated can
settles away more bits of comb are added. The dark residue remaining
is composed of cocoons, pollen, and accidental impurities. These
may, however, contain considerable wax which they have absorbed as it
melted. This waste may be avoided in a great measure if the combs are
broken up and soaked in rain water for twenty-four hours before melting.
Cakes of wax, if designed for the comb-foundation manufacturer, will
be acceptable just as they come from the wax extractor, but if for the
general market they should all be remelted in order to purify them.
This must be done with care or the wax will be seriously injured.
Iron vessels will discolor it, and as well or spring water frequently
contains iron, the use of rain water, whenever it is to come in contact
with the melted wax, will be found more desirable. It is best to
melt the wax slowly, for if heated too rapidly the particles become
disaggregated and take up a certain quantity of water, the mass loses
its luster, and becomes pale and granular. In this condition its market
value is low. Remelting slowly, especially in a solar wax extractor,
will restore it.
These difficulties in purifying wax may be avoided if it is melted in
a tin or copper vessel and in a water bath, that is, the melter is to
stand within a larger vessel containing sufficient water to surround
the former. As much wax as possible should be melted at one time, and
when convenient the inner can is left standing in the water, so that
the wax remains liquid some time, permitting the impurities to settle.
These may be shaved from the bottom of the cake and remelted if they
contain much wax.