38 BEES. 
they soon become discolored and less attractive. Honey removed 
immediately after capping finds a better market, but if left on the 
hive even until the end of the summer the quality of the honey is 
improved. <A careful watch must be kept on the honey flow, so as to 
give the bees only enough sections to store the crop. If this is not 
done a lot of unfinished sections will be left at the end of the flow. 
Honeys from different sources 
should not be mixed in the sections, 
as it usually gives the comb a bad 
appearance 
To remove bees from sections, 
the super may be put over a bee 
escape so that the bees can pass 
down but can not return, or the 
supers may be removed and coy- 
ered with a wire-cloth-cone bee 
escape. 
After sections are removed the 
wood should be scraped free of 
propolis (bee glue) and then packed 
in shipping cases (fig. 24) for the 
market. Shipping cases to hold 
12, 24, or 48 sections, in which the 
various styles of sections fit exactly, are manufactured by dealers 
in supplies. In shipping these cases, several of them should be put 
in a box or crate packed in straw and paper and handles provided to 
reduce the chances of breakage. When loaded in a freight car the 
combs should be parallel 
with the length of the 
car. 
In preparing comb 
honey for market it 
should be carefully 
graded so that the sec- 
tions in each shipping 
case are as uniform as 
possible. Nothing will 
more likely cause whole- 
sale purchasers to cut the 
price than to find the first 
row of sections in a case fancy and those behind of inferior grade. 
Grading rules have been adopted by various bee keepers’ associa- 
tions or drawn up by honey dealers. The following sets of rules are 
in general use: 
447 
Fic. 23.—Perforated zinc queen excluder. 
Fig. 24.—Shipping cases for comb honey. 
