1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



846 



combs out to the separators to hold each comb 

 in place, as they nearly always look out 

 for bracing- in this way where the septum 

 of the comb comes within fs inch of any 

 part of the hive." 



"Must the hive be perfectly level each 

 way? " 



"No. It is not necessary that the hive 

 be leveled both ways unless the combs in 

 the brood-chamber run in an opposite di- 

 rection from those in the sections; but it is 

 necessary to have the hive level in the direc- 

 tion of the open sides of our sections if we 

 would produce the nicest of section honey." 

 " Do you do this leveling with a plumb, 

 or will the eye be exact enough? " 



"It is not well to do this leveling with 

 the eye; for unless the eye is trained in this 

 matter it is little better than guesswork. I 

 was over to Mr. Brown's the first of the 

 summer, and he thoug^ht hives could be lev- 

 eled with the eye; but a level showed that 

 some of them were two inches out of the 

 way. I use a spirit-level for this work; 

 but in the absence of this I would use a 

 plummet, as you suggest." 



"It hardly seems that my hives were 

 enough out of level to cause this trouble. I 

 will try a level on them to-morrow." 



"It may be that it was not; but it was 

 in the starters, for, next to having the hives 

 level, comes the matter of how the starters 

 are put in the sections. If in a slipshod 

 way, so that they pull off or fall down from 

 the weight of the bees before they thor- 

 oughly attach them to the top of the sec- 

 tions, poor combs and many braces will be 

 the result." 



"I do not think that many of mine fell 

 down, though in a few instances I was 

 quite sure that this was what caused the 

 trouble." 



" Then if care is not taken to have these 

 starters run true with the sections they 

 will be angling enough so that the bees will 

 swing the edges of the combs around and 

 attach them to the separators near the bot- 

 tom instead of to the sides of the sections, 

 thus making a nasty mess when we come to 

 remove the separators. Even where full 

 sheets of foundation are used, some are so 

 careless in putting them in that the edges 

 are nearer the separators than the sections, 

 when placed on the hives, when the bees 

 will attach them to the nearest point, as 

 they always do, for they care not as to the 

 salable quality of their product. This is 

 not what they are working for, and it is the 

 bee-keeper who must guide aright if he 

 wishes the salableness in perfect order. 

 But in full sheets and a level hive we have 

 the greatest prevention against these brace- 

 combs." 



" Do you think it pays to use full sheets 

 of foundation in the sections? " 



" Latterly I have come to the conclusion 

 that it does not pay to try to dispense with 

 full sheets of very thin foundation for each 

 section, only as we have full sheets of 

 drawn comb to use in place of the founda- 

 tion. But the full sheets of foundation will 



not remedy the trouble where the hives are 

 much out of level, for the bees seem to have 

 a way of building or drawing out their cells 

 on the side of the foundation furthest away 

 from the separators first, which tends to 

 curl the lower end of the foundation around 

 nearer the separator, till the bees attach it 

 to the separator instead of the bottom of the 

 section." 



"Well, I see that here is a part of my 

 trouble, as well as having some of the 

 starters fall down. I think I can remedy 

 some of these things next year, if not the 

 whole trouble." 



"Next in order comes the putting-on of 

 sections while the colony is too weak to oc- 

 cupy them fully, these weak colonies com- 

 mencing on the bait sections first, and then 

 spreading out from there in either direc- 

 tion; but as it is the warmest and most 

 homelike on the sides next the center, they 

 draw out the cells near the center of the 

 foundation, up and down, first on this in- 

 side of the foundation, which causes it to 

 curl at the sides or edges, till it comes 

 nearer the separator than to the sides of the 

 sections, and thus it is attached to the sep- 

 arators instead of the sections where it 

 should be." 



"Well, there! That accounts for more 

 of my trouble than any of the rest, for I no- 

 ticed that more of these attachments were 

 found in those supers which had only a few 

 completed sections in them than in those 

 where all of the sections were finished. 

 But is there any other reason? " 



" Lastly, this trouble may come from 

 putting the sections on too early in the sea- 

 son, before the honey harvest commences, 

 where the colonies are strong enough to en- 

 ter the surplus apartment, or allowing 

 them to stay on the hives during a long pe- 

 riod of scarcity, when the bees, not having 

 any thing else to do, amuse themselves in 

 gnawing the foundation, which results in 

 less perfect combs than would have been 

 the case had a good honey-flow come on im- 

 mediately after putting the sections on the 

 hive. Such gnawing more often results in 

 the twisting of that part which is left than 

 otherwise; and in thus twisting, some por- 

 tions of the foundation come nearer the sep- 

 arators than the sides to the sections, when 

 brace-combs are the result. This putting- 

 on of sections too early in the season can 

 be easily avoided by studying our location 

 as to its flora; but as we can have no con- 

 trol of the secretion of nectar or the periods 

 of scarcity coming after the sections are on, 

 this part of the matter can not well be over- 

 come. ' ' 



" I am very glad I came over, and hope 

 to profit in the matter another year." 



"By avoiding all the things which tend 

 toward these brace-combs being attached 

 to the separators, we can have perfect 

 combs, and of the highest quality, all other 

 things being equal; and I have so far over- 

 come this matter that hardly one section of 

 honey in three hundred is defective along 

 this line." 



