138 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES ' 



y^ inch, or perhaps a shade less. In other words we 

 learned that a bee-space, or that space in which bees were 

 least inclined to put either comb or propolis, was a scant 

 quarter of an inch. With a correct bee-space between 

 top-bars and sections, we can dispense entirely with any- 

 thing in the shape of a honey-board. There will be a lit- 

 tle trouble with the building of bits of comb under the 

 sections, but not enough to make it worth while to use a 

 honey-board. But that trouble will be greatly aggravated 

 if there be any beginnings of burr-combs on the tops of 

 the frames when supers are given. So the tops must be 

 cleaned off wherever there is anything to clean off before 

 the supers are put on the hives. 



THICK TOP-BARS. 



Another thing that may help to keep down burr- 

 combs is the thickness and width of top-bars. My top- 

 bars are ]/% thick and 1^ wide, leaving a space of ^ 

 inch between them. There are more burr-combs than I 

 like built between them, and I have wondered whether 

 any other space would be better. If the sides as well as 

 the tops of the top-bars were cleaned off at the time of 

 giving supers, it would help to keep the bottoms of sec- 

 tions clean, but I doubt its paying. 



THICK TOP-BARS FOR WHITE SECTIONS. 



Even if the ]/% thickness of top-bar were of no other 

 advantage, I should want it for the sake of keeping the 

 cappings of the sections white. At one time I had wide- 

 frames of sections facing brood-frames (the brood-frames 

 were used to bait the bees up into the supers), and if the 

 brood-frames were left there till the sections were sealed, 

 the sealing would be almost if not quite as dark as the 

 sealing of brood-combs. The bees seem to carry bits of 

 the old, black brood-combs to use in capping the sections. 

 So the thick top-bar increasing the distance of the sec- 

 tions from the brood-combs helps to keep the former 

 whiter. 



