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above, at the present time large amounts of this product are made by the filling of small boxes of a size intended for the market. This is, by far, the most convenient method of handling the product. A frame showing 24 boxes of comb honey as withdrawn from the hive is illustrated in Fig. 85. It has also the additional merit of a practical guarantee of the product. In Fig. 86 is seen a box of honey in which the capping is incomplete. Many mechanical attempts have been made to imitate the genuine comb and in many respects a certain degree of success has been attained. In fact nearly all of the commercial comb honey of the present day is made in combs built upon an artificial base in which the cells of the comb are started and sometimes built to a considerable depth. The bee is then only required to fill out the remaining portion of the cell and, after filling it with honey, to cover it over. Thus the labor of the bee is greatly diminished in respect of comb building and its energies preserved for a greater production of honey. It must be admitted that honey preserved in the comb has a delicacy and daintiness which does not attach to that which has been separated and sold in a liquid form. The comb honey, therefore, commands a fancy price.

Fig. 86.—Showing Box of Honey Partially Capped.—(Courtesy A. I. Root Co.)

Extracted Honey.—Where honey is to be shipped to any great distance it is found difficult, if not impossible, to transport it in the comb, since the jarring and exposure incident to transit break the delicate cells and allow the honey to escape. For commercial purposes, therefore, especially when honey is to be shipped to distant points, it is separated from the comb at