Why Commercial Beekeepers Do Not Produce More Comb Honey

Commercial beekeepers like to have their equipment uniform because this aids in their manipulations and calls for less equipment and less sorting of material. Commercial men usually use standard hive bodies for supers and when they once get their combs drawn out they can secure more extracted honey than comb honey.

If you think beekeeping is a small business count the 60 pound cans in this picture which are only part of one beekeeper's crop. Several beekeepers are producing over half a million pounds of honey annually.

If you think beekeeping is a small business count the 60 pound cans in this picture which are only part of one beekeeper's crop. Several beekeepers are producing over half a million pounds of honey annually.

Then too, most commercial bee keepers prefer to wholesale their honey and the normal wholesale package is the 60 lb. square tin cans or barrels which will stand rough handling and can be shipped by truck or rail freight. Comb honey must be handled with much more care through production, packing and handling.

While there is a big unfilled demand for shallow frame comb honey, few commercial beekeepers are doing anything about supplying this demand, preferring to stay in the same old rut and produce extracted honey which is easier to produce and which takes less equipment. We know a few large commercial beekeeper packers who produce only shallow frame comb honey on their own colonies and buy all of their extracted honey which is always available in practically unlimited amounts at wholesale price.

Section Supers

The section box comb honey supers should be ruled out by all beginners because it is difficult to force the bees to work in sections. They are suited only for locations where the honey flow is rapid and where the bees build up to the proper strength. While a few beginners do have success with these supers, most do not, and they should be left to the experts in this line who have experience.

Top view of a section super; 4 sections in each section holder, each separated by a slotted wood separator and the entire assembly held together with super springs.

Top view of a section super; 4 sections in each section holder, each separated by a slotted wood separator and the entire assembly held together with super springs.

If you do happen to have a few of these section supers on hand and wish to produce comb honey and have had no success with the sections you can take out the fixtures and replace them with 4 1/2" (HALF DEPTH) frames. Use' either full sheets of thin super foundation or starter and the bees will produce straight frames of comb honey that will find a ready sale in the local market.

The beeway section super will take the 4 1/2 frames if you decide to discontinue the production of section honey.

The beeway section super will take the 4 1/2" (half depth) frames if you decide to discontinue the production of section honey.

To produce section honey it is advisable to build up very strong colonies using two or more hive bodies and then at the beginning of the honey flow, break the colony down to a single story, using extra brood to start an additional colony of bees on a new location or to strengthen weaker colonies.

Section comb honey is the delight of the professional beekeeper in a good honey territory but is normally only a bad dream for the unexperienced beginner.

Section comb honey is the delight of the professional beekeeper in a good honey territory but is normally only a bad dream for the unexperienced beginner.

Section comb honey production is a job for the real experts. Beginners should not try to produce honey in section boxes.

Section comb honey production is a job for the real experts. Beginners should not try to produce honey in section boxes.

While we do not recommend section honey supers to beginners, it may be at times, in favored sections of the country, that a few supers of sections may be produced to advantage when the market price is high. While there used to be several styles of section supers the only one now worth considering is the bee-way section super which is the least expensive and by far the most popular.

To do away with the difficulties of inserting the small pieces of comb foundation in these individual boxes most beekeepers now use the split sections which are held open by an inexpensive spreader and a full sheet of foundation is dropped into place, which in turn holds the sections together as a unit which are then slipped into the section holder.

The section spreader holds the split sections open so that a sheet of foundation can be dropped into place.

The section spreader holds the split sections open so that a sheet of foundation can be dropped into place.

Producing section honey calls for very close attention and experience and the bees may swarm badly, leaving many unfinished sections which are almost a total loss. If you can produce an average of 100 finished sections or more per hive you can consider yourself an expert and your locality exceptionally good but if you produce 25 fine finished sections per colony consider yourself fortunate. By placing four bait sections (unfinished sections left over from the year before) in the middle section holder you will double your chances of getting the bees to work in the sections.

Use bait sections to induce your bees to quickly go to work in your section supers. Bait sections are partially completed sections kept over from the year before.

Use bait sections to induce your bees to quickly go to work in your section supers. Bait sections are partially completed sections kept over from the year before.

A bee escape is a metal device with springs that permit the bees to go only in one direction; largely used to remove the bees from section supers. It permits them to go down but they cannot go up into the super again.

A bee escape is a metal device with springs that permit the bees to go only in one direction; largely used to remove the bees from section supers. It permits them to go down-but they cannot go up into the super again.