2&2 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



if the super be added below, and Mr. Town- 

 send is making a mistake in his manage- 

 ment unless he has some other reason for it. 

 I think he has a very good reason. As he 

 explains it, if he puts the empty super un- 

 der, unless an excluder is used the queen 

 will often go up and lay in the super. If he 

 puts the empty super on top, the queen is 

 not likely to go up through the partly filled 

 super to lay in the empty one, neither is 

 she likely to occupy the super already occu- 

 pied with honey. So he saves the expense 

 and the bother of excluders, and that over- 

 balances the gain there might be in putting 

 the empty super under. 



With section-supers, the practice varies 

 all the way from never having more than 

 two supers on at a time and always putting 

 the empty super on top, to having six or 

 eight supers on at a time, and always put- 

 ting the emptj? super under. The argument 

 of the former is that, when the bees are 

 crowded down to two supers, they hurry up 

 the finishing, giving less time for darken- 

 ing, and resulting in fewer unfinished sec- 

 tions. Those, however, who use this plan 

 successfully, use pretty large supers, which 

 makes a difference. An objection to the 

 plan is that, if you crowd bees so as to hasten 

 the finishing, you are doing something that 

 will at the same time be an inducement 

 toward swarming. 



Let me now refer to my own practice with 

 section-supers, without saying by any means 

 that i know all about it, for I've been all 

 the while learning, and, likely enough, may 

 make some change next year. Besides, 

 there are times when it's a good bit a matter 

 of guessing as to what is the best thing to 

 do. 



One thing I want is to have lots of room 

 — not merely plenty of it, but abundance of 

 it, so as to have w^hatever advantage there 

 may be in abundance of room to prevent 

 swarming. If there are bees enough to fill 

 six or eight supers, then why not gi\ e them? 

 Another desirable thing, as already intimat- 

 ed, is to get the bees started as soon as pos- 

 sible on the new super, and that means that, 

 generally, the added super will be put un- 

 der. It may be sometimes that there is a 

 question as to whether the bees shall swarm 

 or not, the thing being so near on a balance 

 that an added super shall have the deciding 

 vote, the vote being for swarming if the su- 

 per is above, and against swarming if it is 

 below. 



To hasten the start in the super, a bait 

 section is the thing. Bees seem to start on 

 it just as soon as they would start in an ex- 

 tracting-super. In a poor season I've had 

 the bait sections filled and sealed, all over 

 the ajnary, and not a section of foundation 

 drawn out beside. 



The serond super will usually be put un- 

 der the first about as soon as the first is half 

 filled. If the season be poor, and the bees 

 are making slow work on the first super, it 

 may not be worth while to give any second 

 sufier. If I he season be very gooil, with ev- 

 ery prospect of a big harvest, the second su- 



per may be given before the first is half fill- 

 ed. Indeed, it may be given when only a 

 fair start is made in the first. If there are 

 bees enough to fill the two supers, they may 

 as well fill them. It seems as if the harvest 

 should be a trifie greater than if the bees do 

 any waiting for room. With a strong colo- 

 ny and strong prospects, not only may an 

 empty super be put under the first, but an 

 empty super may also be put on top of the 

 first super. I have practiced this putting 

 an extra empty super on top for only a few 

 years, but so far I like it well. It acts as a 

 safety-valve. It may happen that the bees 

 need it, and it's there ready, and the bees 

 can take to it whenever they feel like it. If 

 they don't need it they can let it alone. 



Suppose, now, we have on each strong 

 colony three supers. When the bottom one 

 is half filled— sooner or later according to 

 the strength of the colony and the prospects 

 ^the top super will be put down at the bot- 

 tom. In a few cases this top super which 

 is now put below will have a start made and 

 some honey in it. This shows that it has 

 done good, and without it the bees would 

 have been crowded to their harm. Most of 

 the top supers, however, that are now put 

 down will sh w no start in them. Yet, even 

 so, the bees have been in them a little; and 

 when put do^vn the bees will probably take 

 to them just a little sooner than if they had 

 not been on at all. 



There is another reason for having that 

 extra empty super on top. it gives more 

 room, and the supers are a little cooler on a 

 hot day. The bees have a comfortable feel- 

 ing that they have all the room they want, 

 and will be less inclined to think of swarm- 

 ing. 



Still another reason: After an empty su- 

 per has been on top a few days it may look 

 as if the bees had never touched the foun- 

 dation, none of it being drawn out; but if 

 you look closely you will see that they have 

 made more secure the fastening of the foun- 

 dation to the topbar of the section. Occa- 

 sionally a starter may be so lightly fastened 

 that a full force of bees suddenly thrown 

 upon it would break it down. The bees will 

 fasten this -ecurely before it is put down. 

 Even if there should be a breakdown in the 

 top super, it will have no honey in it, and 

 will not be as bad as a breakdown below. 



When the top super is put below, a fresh 

 empty super is put on top. This course is 

 continued till near the close of the harvest, 

 the top super being put below as fast as it 

 is needed, and a fresh super put in its place. 

 Of course each super is taken off as soon as 

 finished — often quite a little before all the 

 sections in it are finished, but while the cor- 

 ner ones are not quite finished, an I perhaps 

 a few at the sides. The unfinished ones are 

 assembled in a super and returned to be fin- 

 ished. In a good season there will be on 

 some hives as many as se>en supers at a 

 time, and hey will be all full of bees with 

 the exce|)tion of the top one. It .'icems as 

 if the harvest would be at least a liitle less 

 if the bees were crowded into smaller space. 



