198 



THE BEP: KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



To this point tlie object has been to 

 liave as miicli nectar as may be col- 

 lected and as well on the way to the 

 best marketable form possible, l)nt 

 from now on, while the same objects 

 remain, there is tlie added care that 

 at the close of the season, the pro- 

 cess of bringing to marketable condi- 

 tion shall have advanced so favorably 

 tliat there shall be very little not in 

 a linished state. To do this withont 

 risk of lessening the yield reqnires 

 considerable ingenuity- -indt^d it is 

 principally a matter of ingenuity. That 

 being the case, no hard and fast rules 

 can be laid down that can be made 

 to serve in all cases. The progress 

 making in the filling of the sections 

 on each colony must l)e known, and 

 the indications in the apiary of the in- 

 coming of honey will l)e carefully 

 watched. Along with this, continual 

 attention should be given to e(iualiz- 

 ing— eciualiying is the Key to tlie p'-ob- 

 lem. Do not bring more empty SfC- 

 tions from the honey house so long as 

 there are cases of them unoccui^ied 

 on the colonies in the yard— etpialize. 

 It would no doubt prove a most salu- 

 tary schooling to one inclined to give 

 too much room in the supers, to run 

 out of sections at about this stage, if 

 it would lead him to turn his attention 

 seriously to furnishing each colony 

 Avitli room for storage with the sec- 

 tions already on the hives. It avouUI, 

 Avithout question, prove a revelation 

 to him of the capacity of ecpialization. 

 As the best I can do on this subject 

 I shall content myself with offerhig a 

 few hints suggested by my own ex- 

 perience. 



ARRANGEMENT OF UNFINISHED SECTIONS 



THAT ARE TO GO BACK ON 



THE HIVES. 



From the period Ave are at, onward, 

 remove from the hives all cases nearly 

 completed. Do not wait too long. Such. 



cases I think furnish a lounging place 

 for some of the beew, and an undesir- 

 .•ible staining of tbe -ombs is going 

 on, while the process of completing 

 the outside sections is going on but 

 slowly. As soon as may be after sucli 

 cases are removed, take out the sec- 

 tions and sort them, arranging the un- 

 tinlshed sections in cases to Ije return- 

 ed to the bees for completion, as cir- 

 cumstances may dictate. Some of the 

 cases may be filled full, in which case 

 the sections nearest completion are to 

 be placed on the outside, with the 

 wholly completed side of sections next 

 the side of tlie case. Other cases may 

 lie arranged with two or more rows of 

 this soi't of sections with outside rowrf 

 of sections not yet worked by the 

 bees sufficient to fill the cases. Thus 

 will be accumulated a considerable 

 I'umber of cases tttted to accommo- 

 date tlie varied requirements of the 

 colonies in the yard. When less than 

 a full case of unhnished sections is 

 preparing, do not make the mistake of 

 putting tliese sections on the outside 

 and the unworked ones in the center, 

 lliiidvliig thereby to induce the bees to 

 do largei- work, for, Avhile they ma" 

 woi-k on the centre ones, they are like- 

 ly, unless nectar Is coming in freely, 

 and there are plenty of l)ees, to carry 

 the honey out of the outside ones. Be- 

 sides, so long as you keep the bees at 

 work on unhnished sections you are 

 certain they are not increasing the 

 numbers of that kind to be handled at 

 the end of the season. Moreover, as 

 the end of the season comes in sight, 

 any of these cases of sections to be 

 finished still remaining should be al- 

 lotted to the colonies in the yard Avith 

 judgment. To a strong colony doing 

 good Avork it may be advisable to give 

 a cas<> full of the unlinlshed sections, 

 or a case filled partly Avitli them and 

 partly Avith uiiAvorked sections, ac- 

 cording to its lequirements in the way 



