1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



493 



CONVERSATIONS WITH 

 DOOLITTLE 



AT Borodino, New York. 



FEW UNCArPED SECTIONS IN THE FALL. 



A correspondent writes, "I am a reader of 

 Gleanings, but do not see in it any thing 

 about the main thing I am most interested in 

 just now, which is, how to avoid a lot of un- 

 capped sections in tlie fail." 



I think myself that we have spent much 

 more of our time discussing and writing about 

 how to manage our bees so as to secure the 

 greatest yield of section honey than we have 

 about securing this section honey in the best 

 shape for market. But comb honey is not so 

 valuable unless thoroughly sealed or capped 

 over, therefore managmg our bees so as to 

 have few uncapped sections in the fall is a 

 question of nearly as much importance as the 

 one about which so much has been written. 



For years I was troubled by having from 

 one-fourth to one-third of the combs in the 

 sections not fully sealed at the close of the 

 honey harvest, the best of which were sal- 

 able only at a reduced price; but of late I 

 have few such, even in a poor season. After 

 experimenting for several years in all lines 

 touching this matter I became convinced that 

 the cause of the trouble was in giving the 

 bees too many sections, and especially con- 

 ducive to this was the plan of tiering up sec- 

 tions late in the season. To tier up sections 

 profitably requires considerable skill, which 

 should include a thorough knowledge of the 

 honey resources of the field occupied. 



I think that there has been too much inju- 

 dicious talk during the past along the line of 

 not allowing the bees, under any circum- 

 stances, to cluster on the outside of the hive, 

 the prevailing idea seeming to be that bees 

 neea more room when they thus cluster out. 

 Now, I claim that it all depends on when this 

 clustering-out occurs whether more room is 

 needed or not. If such clustering-out occurs 

 at the commencement or in the height of 

 the honey harvest, then more room should 

 surely be given; while at the latter part of the 

 harvest, or at any time of honey dearth, no 

 more room is needed, for more room at this 

 time results in the one case in many unfinish- 

 ed sections, and in the other in an absolute 

 waste of time in enlarging the hive, besides 

 the chance of having the foundation in the 

 sections covered with propolis, which makes 

 the bees loath to use it afterward, or having 

 this foundation badly chewed up during this 

 term of idleness. Allow me to illustrate 



During some seasons we have but a very 

 few days of nectar secretion, and those often 

 come after the flowers which produce the 

 yield are rather past their prime. At such 

 times we often do not have on the hive one- 

 half the capacity which we would use in a 

 good season, and for this reason the bees be- 

 gin to be crowded out. Hoping that the con- 

 ditions may be good during the rest of the 

 time that the flowers are in bloom, we give 

 double the room to our colonies, only to have 

 the weather turn bad again, thus giving us 



only partly filled sections in the fall; while, 

 had we left them as they were, nearly or 

 quite all would have been finished. Years 

 ago I was caught several times in this way, 

 and especially in basswood, as from this 

 source honey comes in very rapidly at times 

 for a day or two so that it looks like a bounti- 

 ful harvest, when a change of temperature 

 and conditions may occur suddenly, and con- 

 tinue unpropitious to the end of the nectar 

 supply from this source. At such times the 

 tiering-up plan is almost sure to result in 

 many unfinished sections. After being 

 caught several times in this way I resolved 

 that in no case would I tier up sections after 

 the middle of the flow from any one source, 

 and to this I have strictly adhered, much to 

 my advantage, for the past ten or twelve 

 years. The supers with baits are put on first; 

 and if the clover harvest is only fully under 

 way when this super is from half to two- thirds 

 full, then it is raised up and another super 

 put under it. But if the season is quite well 

 advanced before such an expansion of sup- 

 er room seems to be needed, then I put the 

 next super on top of the one already on. 

 When basswood arrives, if it begins to yield 

 soon after the bloom opens, and there are 

 supers of white-clover honey from one-half 

 to two-thirds full, then such supers are rais- 

 ed up, and empty supers, having sections 

 filled with foundation, are put under. But 

 if the season for basswood gets quite well 

 advanced before much honey has come in, 

 and before the bees begin to need more 

 room, then the super is put on top instead of 

 underneath. And the same is applicable to 

 the flow from buckwheat. 



Quite a few bee-keepers seem to think that 

 it takes away from the prospect of a good 

 yield of section honey to put the empty sec- 

 tions on top of those already being worked 

 in, instead of underneath; but from ten years' 

 experimenting and experience I fail to see 

 any difference in results. I know that I 

 really used to believe that, by putting a 

 vacant space between the brood-chamber 

 and the super being worked in, the bees 

 would work with redoubled energy to fill 

 this space, so that far more honey would be 

 obtained. But s) far as I can see, such is 

 not the fact. Several colonies of as nearly 

 equal strength as to working qualities as pos- 

 sible to judge, a part of them worked on the 

 tiering-up plan during the season, and the 

 other part by giving the empty supers at the 

 top, would vary little if any as to the num- 

 ber of pounds of section honey produced. 

 But those having the empty supers placed at 

 the top would have their pounds nearly all in 

 well-filled and finished sections, while those 

 tiered up would give many lean and poorly 

 filled sections, together with many sections 

 not sufficiently capped to be marketable, ex- 

 cept at a reduced price, if marketable at all. 

 The difference in the finishing was very no- 

 ticeable, where I had, say, twenty colonies, 

 which I thought needed two supers each, 

 on ten of which the second super was put 

 underneath, on the tiering-up pjan, the other 

 ten having this second super put on top. 



