■loi-TKMnKK 1. r.i 



723 



The cxhibi'. stands ;u llic lijclit of the east entramc of the \;uied Iiulustrips buildiiij 



with an escape-board, minus tlie e;5cai>e. 

 uiuler Ihem, piling- as many supers on a 

 hive as would safely stand up. 



Xnne of these methods are satisfactory. 

 for the following- reasons: The first is ob- 

 jectionable because the daubed honey gran- 

 ulates, and starts o-raimlation too soon in 

 the next year's crop. Worse yet, if there is 

 comb that has contained brood it is quite 

 likely to be ruined by the wax-moth larv.-n. 



The second method is objectionable be- 

 cause my bees gather on the combs in 

 swarms, and fiirht over them, killing large 

 numbers of bees. They do not learn to go 

 to their hives at ni<jrht. but quite frequently 

 stay in large mimbers on the combs. The 

 only way I can get the combs in is to do so 

 at night, and then I lose lots of bees. T 

 have tried i)utting the combs out a little 

 before night, on the theory that the bees 

 would just about get them licked up by 

 dark. Then T could get them in before the 

 moths grot around to lay a fresli batch of 

 eggs. 



But this will not work with my bees. 

 They start fighting, and the supers are full 

 of bees at dark. T think that, by leaving 

 the combs till they are completely dry, the 

 bees would lea\e them at evening. How- 

 ever. T do not like the idea of combs ex- 

 posed to the weather and motlts, nor do T 

 care to lo.se many bees or liave so much of 

 an uproar around the place. 



Tlie thij-d method is the one 1 have used 

 mostly, mainly because not so many bees 

 are lost, and because in that way the honey 

 from the combs is given to the colonies 

 needing- it. But it has the objection of re- 

 quiring too nmch labor, especially night 

 work, and also that it is not feasible on a 

 large scale unless a large number of strong 

 colonies, light of stores, are near by. 



My method in this is to put an escape- 

 hoard, without the escape, on each strong 

 lioht colony that we have combs for, and, 

 if the weatiier is not too hot, to contract the 

 entrance considerably. In any case I make 

 the entrance as small as the weather will 

 permit, doing this any time before I wish to 

 nut on the combs. Of course I lay the cover 

 on over the escape-board. Then when T 

 wisli to put on the combs T start as soon as 

 it is too dark for tlie bees to fly. Laying 

 off a cover from a liive. I go to the honey- 

 house and take as many supers of empty 

 combs as T can carry, and set on the hive. 

 T proceed thus until T have as many supei's 

 r)n as r wish, ])utting as many to the hive 

 as will stand up safely, and being careful to 

 have all covers fit down bee-tight. I put on 

 an 8 or 10 lb. stone, or two or three bricks, 

 to insure the covers staying on. 



By morning tlie bees will have the combs 

 pretty well licked up, and will have recov- 

 ered frciin their excitement enough to keep 

 (lilt robbers. 



