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 a comb-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.)