A yield of fifty pounds of honey in a season can be obtained from one hive of bees in almost any locality.  In fact, this is often done where bees are kept in built up cities.  One hundred pounds would be considered a very small yield by many apiarists, and twice this amount is often gathered in favored localities where up-to-date methods are followed.

One man can take care of two hundred hives or colonies, as they are termed, if he is working for comb honey, and perhaps twice that number if for extracted honey.

Comb honey is stored usually in one-pound boxes set in a super or small box over the main hive body, which is itself a box about seventeen inches long, eleven inches wide, and ten inches deep into which frames of comb are slid side by side.  These combs are accessible and can be lifted out, exposing to view the inner workings of the hive.  It is in these combs that the queen lays as many as three thousand eggs some days, and in which the young bees are hatched.  They are also used for storing honey for winter use.

The extractor has been invented to remove this honey without damaging the comb.  The economy of this can readily be seen, as ten pounds of honey can be stored while one pound of comb is being built.

This leaves the bees free to gather honey instead of using a portion of their force to build comb, as is necessary when comb honey is desired.

The extractor is a round tin can on a central pivot with a revolving mechanism.  Into this the full combs of honey are placed and are whirled around, throwing the honey out into the can by centrifugal force.  It is then run out at the bottom into bottles or barrels, and the empty combs are replaced in the hive for the bees to fill again.

Twice as many pounds of honey can be produced by this method; but the price of extracted honey is much less than that of comb honey.  Adulteration of extracted honey with glucose is becoming so prevalent that it threatens to ruin this branch of the industry.  But there will always be a good market for honey sold direct by the producer to residents, or even through storekeepers, in medium size towns, where customers can be sure that the honey is pure.

The average wholesale prices of honey are about fifteen cents a pound for extracted and twenty cents for fancy comb, so if the apiarist with two hundred hives produces the small average of fifty pounds of comb honey and sells it at fifteen cents a pound, he will receive $1500 for his season’s work.  If he goes in for extracted honey and produces one hundred pounds per hive, he will receive even more.  Of course, expenses will have to come out of this.

That this has been done over and over again is proved by men who started in with only a few hives and have accumulated considerable property from the business.