No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 377 



begun to feel quite strong. But after the removal all the field bees 

 will desert it and join the swarm on the old stand. This weakening 

 of the colony will greatly discourage the thought of swarming, and 

 the discouragement will be increased by the fact that for that colony 

 the harvest has ceased, for little or nothing is brought in from the 

 field. So all the young queens but one will be destroyed and there 

 will be no further swarming. 



If supers were on the colony when it swarmed, they should be given 

 to the swarm about two days after swarming. If put on immediately 

 after the swarm is hived, there is some danger that the queen might 

 go up and lay in the sections, but after a day or two she will have 

 a brood-nest started below and will have no desire to go above. If 

 extracting combs are in the super, then the super may be given as 

 soon as the swarm is hived, as a queen-excluder will prevent the 

 queen's going above. 



CARE OF COMB HONEY. 



It is by no means a matter of indifference as to how honey is kept, 

 Especially important is the place. A common practice with those 

 who know no better is to put it in the cellar. Before long the 

 beautiful white sections begin to have a darker appearance; later 

 on, small drops of sweetish water ooze out through the cappings, 

 increasing in size until they run down in streaks over the surface. 

 When the comb is cut open, the honey is found to be thin and 

 watery, and in course of time it sours. Then the good woman of the 

 house wonders what can be the matter with the honey. 



She should know that honey has a strong aflSnity for moisture. 

 The air of the cellar is moist, and that moisture is attracted by 

 the honey. That's the whole trouble. Instead of putting the honey 

 in a moist place, put it in the driest place. Wherever salt will not 

 keep dry is not a good place for honey. In the kitchen cupboard is 

 a good place; the higher up the better, because warmer. If you 

 are fortunate enough to have an attic, where there is no covering 

 overhead but the roof, and where, in the hot days of summer, it 

 is so hot and close that you can hardly breathe, that's an ideal place 

 to keep comb honey except in freezing weather. It will even stand 

 the freezing of winter if it has stood in such a hot place during a 

 considerable part of the summer. A hot and dry place is what is 

 wanted. 



Unless comb honey has had an extra chance to ripen, as in a hot 

 garret, through a good many summer days, the effect of severe freez- 

 ing is to make the comb crack across the surface. So it is desi- 

 rable that in winter time comb honey shall not be subjected for a 

 long time to severe cold. 



