348 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



JrNE 1 



THEY WORK WELL STARTED IN THE EXTRACTING-COMBS AT THE SIDE OF THE COMB- 

 HONEY SUPER. 



Note that the row of sections just back of the extractingr-fraine is also well alons, and that tlie second 

 row Ijack is started. 



ing-super and hive. As will be seen, this 

 gives more rooin right in the middle of 

 the brood-nest; and instead of cramping the 

 bees, and forcing them into the supers and 

 forcing swarming when the super is added, 

 it really gives more room and checks swarm- 

 ing. The bees will at once begin drawing 

 out the foundation; and as soon as this is 

 nicely begun, the comb-honey super should 

 be brought on top of the extracting-super, 

 or there will likely be pollen and possibly 

 brood in the sections. After this is done, a 

 (pieen-excluder should be ])ut next to the 

 hive-Vjody or the queen will again occujjy 

 the extracting - su])er. In a short time 

 all the brood will be hatched in the ex- 

 tracting-super, and it will be filled with 

 honey, and capped. It should then be re- 

 moved and extracted. The comb-honey su- 

 per will have work well advanced, and this 

 is then i>laced next to the hive, where it will 

 be finished in a hurry without any light- 

 weight sections. 



As soon as the How is over, the empty ex- 

 tracting-super is i)laced on the hi\e again, 

 and the (|ueen at once fills it with eggs. If 

 the pros])ect is good for a fall How, the above 

 l)lan is again carried out. If no(, they are 

 left just as they are all winter. The super 

 is filled with dark honey, and the bees ar- 

 range their nest for winter. They usually 

 form their cluster so that the space between 

 the super and hive-body comes right in the 

 center of the cluster. This gives them the 

 best of communication with each other all 

 winter. They also have a lot of honey so 

 they will not be stingy with it when they 

 need it for brood-rearing in the spring. 



I see some writers think that bees rear 

 brood just the same whether they have 

 one pountl of honey ahead or twenty-five. 

 It seems strange to me that they wotild ac- 

 cuse the bee, that is considered the most in- 

 telligent of all insects, of raising a lot of 

 young bees to use up tlie last drop of honey 

 and then starve to death! I know from ex- 

 l)erience that they very carefully keep ac- 

 count of the stores aheail, and raise brood 

 accordingly; and with plenty of comb si)ace 

 and honey it is surprising what they will 

 do in the way of bringing a lot of bees on 

 the scene just when tliey are needed. 



I wish to i)rotest against anotlier state- 

 ment that has been made several times, al- 

 though I can not recall w hen. Se\ eral have 

 said that if one extracts from black brood- 

 combs the honey will not be as white as 

 from new white comljs. My ex})erience 

 proves to me that there is no groimd for that 

 statement. I will give one of my experi- 

 ments. I i^icked out ten of the blackest 

 )M()0(l-comV)S that I could find, extracted the 

 honey, and jiut it in glass jars. Then I 

 thoroughly cleaned the extractor, and ex- 

 tracle<l from ten new combs as white as 

 snow. I set these jars with the others; and 

 when I went to compare them I was 

 unal)le to ])ick the last ones out of the lot. 

 I compared the color aiul tasted of the hon- 

 ey, but coidd see no dilTerence. 



I have Ijeen using ^Ir. Townsend's plan of 

 putting extracting-combs at the outside of 

 the sections, and ieel that in this Mr. Town- 

 send has given the bee fraternity a most 

 valuable kink. In the engraving will be 

 seen a super just set on the hive. The bees 



