FUMIGATION 



163 



For convenience at such times most bee-keepers have strips of 

 canvas or muslin, large enough to cover a pile of supers, which 

 are called robber cloths. It is well to remove the supers at once 

 to the honey house where they will be safe from visiting bees. 

 The honey house should, of course, be so tight that no bee can jfind 

 its way in, but with escapes at the tops of the windows to make 

 it easy for any chance bees to get out. In bringing in honey 

 from the apiary it will frequently happen that a good many bees 

 will still remain in the supers. If the house is properly con- 

 structed they will make but little trouble as they will fly to the 

 windows and escape. (See Honey House in next chapter. ) 



Removing Sections from Supers— The super springs already 

 described make it easy to loosen the follower board which will 

 give room to work. Each section holder may now be crowded 

 over into the vacant space and removed with its sections. A 

 better way is to push the whole lot out at one time. There are 

 two ways of doing this. Either have a form the size of the inside 

 of the super and set the super on it; with a mallet or other 

 object drive the super down outside of it, leaving the section 

 holders and their contents on the form ; or have an empty super 

 on which to set the filled one upside down. Then by carefully 

 jarring the section holders they may be pushed down into the 

 empty super. As soon as loosened fully from the propolis and 

 wax they may be lifted out. A little' experience will greatly 

 facilitate matters in thus removing the sections. As a rule the 

 novice will break a number of sections before he learns how to 

 proceed without injuring the honey. 



After the sections are taken from the supers they should be 

 sorted and all unfinished sections replaced in the supers to be 

 replaced on the hives to be finished if the season is not too far 

 advanced, or set aside to serve as bait sections next season. 



Fumigation.— Unless the season is so far advanced that freez- 

 ing weather is at hand, some precaution will be necessary to 

 insure that none of the crop is spoiled by wax moths in storage. 

 At any rate comb honey should not be long subjected to freezing 



