GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



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At Borodino, New York 



MANAGEMENT OF SUPERS. 



"Some of my colonies are working nice- 

 ly in the supers of sections; others are not 

 at work at all. How can I manage the 

 colonies in general so as to secure the best 

 results?" 



"The first thing is to be certain that the 

 colonies are all strong enough for work in 

 the sections. Many put on supers promis- 

 cuously, without regard to strength of colo- 

 ny, and then wonder why all do not go to 

 work in the sections. It is of little use to 

 put supers on any of the liives until the 

 brood-chamber is well filled with brood 

 and bees, as a good yield can come only 

 from colonies strong in bees. 



"But sometimes it pays to start colonies 

 at Avork above a brood-chamber which is 

 being filled with bees from the brood after 

 the combs are about three-fourths filled. 

 This is done by putting a queen-excluder 

 over the brood-chamber, and putting a su- 

 per of half-depth extracting-combs on top. 

 This half-depth super full of combs gives 

 the bees a chance to store any small amount 

 of nectar that may be coming in, or to re- 

 move any honey from the combs below that 

 may be in the way of the laying queen. At 

 the same time, the bees become accustomed 

 to working above their brood. Now, when 

 the fiow of surplus nectar comes, if this ex- 

 tracting-super is removed and a super of 

 sections having one or more baits is put on, 

 the bees, being used to going above, will 

 occupy the sections at once, and work will 

 progress in the right direction. 



"If the colony is very strong, this first 

 super can be raised after three days, and a 

 super of sections filled with foundation 

 placed under the first one. The bees will 

 (hen begin to draw out the foundation, thus 

 relieving any congestion of bees in the 

 hive. This is a great help toward overcom- 

 ing any disposition to swarm, as well as to- 

 ward the filling of a larger number of sec- 

 tions. Now, if it should happen that some 

 colony is not at work in the sections, the 

 upper super of some strong colony, in 

 which good work is being done in both 

 supers, can be removed in the middle of 

 the day and carried to the colony in ques- 

 tion, putting this super next to the brood- 

 chamber, and the super in which no work 

 is being done, on top. In the middle of the 

 day, nearly all the bees in any super are 

 young bees, therefore are received with 

 their stores at once as part of the family, 

 so that the work goes on without interrup- 



tion. The colony from which tliis super 

 was taken will probably need another. 



"If the season for surplus is not far ad- 

 vanced, another super can be put under 

 that already on ; but if there is any doubt 

 as to where to place it, I consider it better 

 to put it on top. Putting a super under- 

 neath sometimes results in many sections 

 in wliich the work has not been completed, 

 if any thing happens to cut the season 

 short. In case of a 'downpour' of nectar 

 or a long-drawn-out season, putting the ex- 

 tra super on top gives ample room for ex- 

 Iiiansion, and most of the sections worked 

 in will be completed. 



"After having been caught two or three 

 times b}^ a shortened season, with thou- 

 sands of unfinished sections and only hun- 

 dreds in marketable shape, because of put- 

 ting the empty supers under, I have adopt- 

 ed the plan of putting the empty super on 

 top at all times except during the fore part 

 of any bloom which is likely to give a sur- 

 plus in the sections. By this shifting of su- 

 pers, bees and all, from hive to hive as need- 

 ed, all colonies are in a measure equalized, as 

 the young bees when taken with the supers 

 usually stay where they are carried. I do 

 not think it a good plan to put an empty 

 super (that is, one having the sections fill- 

 ed with foundation) under a super in which 

 the bees are at work until the one already 

 on is at least half or two-thirds filled, for 

 the bees to quite an extent will begin to 

 draw out the foundation, storing honey 

 therein, so as not to have a vacant space 

 between the 'treasure house' above and the 

 brood below. It generally results in un- 

 sealed, thin, lean, or 'washboardy' sections, 

 which are not wanted. 



"As the season draws toward a close, the 

 work should be in an opposite direction 

 from that at the start, as it is well to have 

 all half-filled sections finished as rapidly as 

 possible. Where colonies are slowing up in 

 their supers, such supers should be taken, 

 bees and all, and set on the super of hives 

 from which a suj^er of finished sections iias 

 just been taken. This, you will note, is the 

 reverse of the plan used at the beginning 

 of the season, for we now give to the strong- 

 est and take from those slowing down. The 

 bees from this shifted super, now set on 

 top, are doing more than they would where 

 they came from by reinforcing those that 

 were doing good work before, while tlie 

 colony from which they were taken is not 

 impoverished thereby." 



