HIVE, AND HOW TO HANDLE IT 87 



are spread apart alternately so that they pass astride 

 the wire and press it down into the foundation ; to do 

 this successfully, the foundation should be warm; 

 working near a lamp or in a warm room will suffice. 

 Embedding the wires by heating them with elec- 

 tricity instead of using the spur-embedder is a com- 

 mon practice in large apiaries where electricity is 

 available, or where it pays to buy a battery with 

 proper attachments. This outfit with the dry cells 

 costs about five dollars, and is a paying investment 

 when the apiary is large. (Plate III.) 



THE SUPER 



The super is that part of the hive that is placed 

 above the brood-chamber and is designed to receive 

 the surplus honey, either comb or extracted. 



When extracted honey is produced the super may 

 resemble the brood-chamber described above, or it 

 may not be so high, fitted to receive a frame little 

 more than half as deep as the standard Langstroth 

 frame used in the brood-chamber. 



When comb-honey is produced, the super is only 

 about half as high as the brood-chamber. For this 

 reason a hive consisting of a brood-chamber and one 

 super for comb-honey is termed a one-and-a-half- 

 story hive. (Plate XV.) 



A complete super fitted for comb-honey consists 

 of the following parts: (1) The outer wall, which 

 is of the same length and width as the brood- 

 chamber and of the right height to hold the style of 

 section-boxes used; on the lower side of each end a 



