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COMB HONEY. 19 
(2) Weather conditions favorable to nectar secretion and bee flight. 
(3) A large number of workers in excess of those needed for the rou- 
tine work of the colony. (4) Conditions of the colony making the 
storing instinct dominant. If any one of these factors is absent, the 
effect of the other three is immediately nullified, and the amount of 
honey secured will vary as these factors are present at the same time 
in greater or less degree or as the time during which they are all 
present is longer or shorter. It is therefore possible to have each of 
these factors present at some time during the season without securing 
a crop of honey and the period of time during which they are all 
present at the same time is usually quite short. 
Grouping the first and second factors we have a combination 
usually spoken of as the locality and season. These factors are largely 
beyond the control of the beekeeper except as he may choose a loca- 
tion in which both are usually present at some time or times during 
the season, may take advantage of the plants of several locations by 
practising migratory beekeeping, or may improve a given locality by 
directly or indirectly increasing the amount of nectar-secreting plants, 
such as buckwheat, alsike clover, sweet clover, or alfalfa. 
Grouping the third and fourth factors we have conditions capable 
of being brought about by manipulation and for which the beekeeper 
is more directly responsible. The beekeeper’s skill therefore lies in 
supplying and maintaining these factors throughout the short period 
during which the bees may store more than they consume. He should 
know which plants may be expected to furnish the nectar for his crop 
of honey, that his various manipulations may be properly timed. It 
should be noted that the shorter the duration of the honey flow, the 
greater becomes the necessity of having the colonies in proper condi- 
tion at its beginning and keeping them so until its close. However 
lavish nature may be with the secretion of nectar and fine weather, it 
is of little avail if the beekeeper fails to secure a large force of workers 
to gather and store his crop or, even having provided workers, if he 
fails to keep his forces together and contented, bending all their energy 
in the one direction of gathering and storing honey. It is a common 
occurrence among inexperienced beekeepers to have the colonies 
become strong enough to work in the supers only after the flowers 
have ceased blooming or to see strong colonies during a good honey 
flow doing nothing in the supers simply because conditions are not 
such as to make the storing instinct dominant. 
So far as the skill of the beekeeper is concerned in the production of 
the crop of honey in a given location, every manipulation of the season 
should be directed (1) toward securing the greatest possible number 
of vigorous workers at the proper time, and (2) keeping the entire 
working force of each colony together and contentedly at work 
throughout the given honey flow. 
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