1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



499 



There is something about this question that is to 

 me very suggestive. The bees are more reasonable 

 in this matter than some apiarists seem to be. They 

 will not store their honey up in a garret so long as 

 they can take better care of it downstairs. When 

 the conditions are favorable, and honey is plentiful, 

 they will take possession of the surplus apartment, 

 and you can't keep them out, even if you should 

 try. If you think you can, try it some time and re- 

 port your success. H. K. Boardman. 



I do not keep bees that need special measures to 

 make them put honey in the sections, when there is 

 any to put there. If I kept such, possibly T might 

 insert a chunk of young brood in one of the sec- 

 tions. As for putting on half a dozen sections, 

 bees and all, from a better colony, I don't believe I 

 should do that. My sections of empty comb left 

 from last year I divide up among the different col- 

 onies, and put them in the center, directly over the 

 brood. This is to some extent an inducement to go 

 above. E. E. Hasty. 



This question seems a queer one to me, and, an- 

 swered trom my standpoint, my answer may seem 

 strange to you. My bees never falter in entering 

 the surplus apartments, at storing time, for either 

 comb or extracted honey, the moment the flow fur- 

 nishes any surplus, provided, of course, the colonies 

 are of normal strength. Now, >ou may put your 

 question to me again, to know what means I have 

 used to bring about this condition of affairs, which 

 does not seem to exist in every apiary, I take it, 

 from your question and others similar. In the first 

 place, I carefully breed my bees for honey-gather- 

 ing and comb-building qualities or propensities. I 

 study the shape, size, and manipulation of my 

 brood-chamber iu connection with this important 

 feature; also the surplus apartment to some extent. 



James Heddon. 



It seems to me that friend Heddon and 

 some others rather ignore the need of get- 

 ting bees to commence work promptly. I 

 have seen a colony cluster on the outside of 

 the hive when honey was coming in at its 

 best. An examination of the combs showed 

 that they did not gather a pound a day, 

 while other colonies not as strong would 

 gather six or eight pounds a day ; and this 

 same colony that had been thus wasting its 

 time, when they once got started would 

 store eight or ten pounds in 24 hours. When 

 bees get the swarming mania they are quite 

 apt to act in this way, and a swarm will 

 sometimes persist in hanging idly outside 

 and sometimes inside of the hive, instead of 

 going to work. I have made such com- 

 mence business by driving them into the 

 hive with a smoker— at least, they com- 

 menced after being well smoked, and I sup- 

 pose that smoking gave them the hint. 

 Where a newly hived swarm deports itself 

 in this matter, it is pretty evident that they 

 are dissatisfied— may be because they had 

 picked out a tree, and were bound to go to 

 the tree instead of staying where they were. 

 A new swarm that does not go to work is 

 very apt to turn up missing some time dur- 

 ing the day. Now, I am not sure that I can 

 prove it conclusively, but I am pretty well 

 satisfied that a frame of brood is quite an 

 inducement for such a swarm to go inside 

 and commence comb-building. When you 



get them under way, of course they will go 

 to work in surplus boxes or anywhere else. 



Question 131.— a. In tiering up supers, should the 

 empty one '»■ put under or over the one partly full/ b. 

 If you practice hoth ways, tell when ymi put under and 



when over. 



Over. O. O. Poppleton. 



Under. A. B. Mason. 



Under. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Under. P. H. Ei/wood. 



Put the empty ones over. L. C. Hoot. 



I have always put it under. I do not know that it 

 is always wise to do so. It works well with me. 



A. J. Cook. 



I have practiced both ways. All things consider- 

 ed, I prefer placing the empty ones on top, every 

 time. H. K. Boardman. 



I always put the empty ones below the partly fill- 

 ed; but before adding I get the first case at least 

 three-fourths full. P. L. Viallon. 



I do not practice tiering up, believing that there 

 is a better way. As usually done, the empty super 

 is put under the other, when the first is full. 



G. M. Doolittle. 



Bees work downward, as a rule. Empty supers 

 should always be put under supers which are al- 

 most finished, and not until they are almost finish- 

 ed. Otherwise the upper super will remain unfin- 

 ished longer than is desirable. C. F. Muth. 



a. Sometimes under, sometimes over. b. In a 

 heavy yield I put the second under; and, in gener- 

 al, so long as 1 am almost sure all will be filled. If 

 I am not sure more are needed or will be filled, or 

 in general toward the close of the honey-How, I 

 put the empty one on top. C. C. Miller. 



Under, by all means. If you think it unlikely that 

 another super will be completed, you might put the 

 empty one on top; but in that case I would much 

 rather use a set of extracting combs. This method 

 saves all the honey, and avoids the expensive nui- 

 sance of a lot of unfinished sections. 



James A. Green. 



We nearly always put the empty super under the 

 one partly full. If the honey in the super is mostly 

 sealed over it should be raised, and the second put 

 underit; but if thesupcr is only partly filled, and an- 

 other has to be given, owing to a very large yield, 

 the second one maybe put on top; but the other 

 way is the better one. Dadant & Son. 



When I have a super from half to three-fourths 

 filled I put an empty super under, if I expect the 

 honey-fiow to last a few days longer. But, as in 

 the case of the basswood harvest being nearlyover, 

 then don't disturb the super that is partly filled; let 

 them finish that. One super well filled is worth 

 more than two partly full. E. France. 



I use mostly wide frames holding two courses of 

 sections, and they never need tiering up to carry 

 the crops gathered here. If I used crates, and 

 wanted to put on a second one, I should put it over. 

 I have confidence in my bees that they would go up 

 if it were best to do so. Whereas, if I put their 

 half 'finished work up stairs, the danger of its being 

 left unfinished until they began to carry the honey 

 down would be too great. E. E. H asty. 



