1902 



IIIE .l.l/A'A'/r.t.V BEE-KEEPER 



81 



but with me, bees quite generally muti- 

 late foundation in sections, more or 

 less, at any time of the year when num- 

 bers or hot weather crowd them into 

 the sections, at a time when there is 

 no honey coming- from any source suffi- 

 cient to cause them to think of draw- 

 ing out any foundation about the hive, 

 which has never been worked upon. I 

 have had hundreds and thousands of 

 sections in which ail the upper half of 

 tlif foundation was gnawed away, but a 

 little strip or neck from one-half inch 

 to an mch wide, and when honey be- 

 g-^.n to come in, and the foundation 

 was being worked upon, the lower part 

 would twist and turn to such an extent 

 that it W'Ould be attached to the separ- 

 ators on one or both sides. This would 

 spoil such sections for market, when 

 th;s attachment was large, or in any 

 event, rnless great care was used to 

 separate the attachments from the sep- 

 arators w'ith a very thin knife, before 

 they were separated from the super 

 containing them. But even with the 

 best of care, those having large attach- 

 ments could not be saved in this way, 

 as the removing from the separator 

 would set the honey to running so that 

 a leaky mess would be the result. There- 

 fore, taking all things into considera- 

 tion, I think I am right in advising not 

 to put on the sections till honey comes 

 in from the fields, and then rush them 

 on all colonies strong enough to enter 

 them. 

 Bordino, N. Y., March 29. 1902. 



Starting Bees to Work in the 

 Supers. 



(By W. W. McNeal.) 



THIS is a fine point in bee-keep- 

 ing, and every one who has the 

 care of bees should study it well. 

 Many promising colonies are spoiled 

 for section work by improper manage- 

 ment at the time of putting on the su- 

 pers. A colt will not pull like the 

 trained horse. When one considers 

 that it is the young bees of the colony 

 that are to be influenced by the super 

 manipulations, the imoortance of using 

 coaxing tactics will be seen at once. 

 Young bees can be scared away from 

 the supers very easily, and for this rea- 

 son it should be made as home-like as 

 possible. When the first impulse to go 

 above has been turned aside and stor- 



ing has begun in the brood chamber 

 instead, supers of sections will almost 

 without exception be ignored by them. 



It should be remembered that a col- 

 ony will not occupy a super when not 

 sufficiently strong to utilize vacant 

 room in the main hive. It is the sheer- 

 est folly to put on a super at this stage 

 of affairs, and expect to see the bees 

 enter it at once. Moreover much harm 

 can be done by giving a weak colony 

 added room early in the season. Should 

 the weather become unfavorable short- 

 ly afterwards, much of the brood is sure 

 to suffer from cold. The loss is not 

 confined to the immature bees that per- 

 ish thus; but the natural thrift of the 

 colony fades away after a few such re- 

 verses. 



Bees cannot work in the super, 

 though strong, when the supply of nec- 

 tar is limited to the needs of the brood 

 compartment. There must be honey 

 to gather above running expenses of 

 the hive before they will put any in the 

 supers. 



Having these two all-important fac- 

 tors — a strong force of bees and a good 

 honey flow — at our command, the next 

 essential is to have the desire of the 

 wax-workers well stimulated. I know 

 of nothing better for this than the giv- 

 ing of a case of partly drawn combs of 

 the current season's make. The fra- 

 grant orders of new wax and honey will 

 incite a colony to put forth its best ef- 

 forts at honey-gathering. But the most 

 practical, because the most accessible, 

 comb early in the season, for the pur- 

 pose of drawing the 3'oung bees into 

 the supers, is old. black, brood comb, 

 with a little brood in it. The blacker 

 it is, the better; just so it is free from 

 mold and dirt. I could never see that 

 such combs seriously afifect the color 

 of the honey put into them, if it was 

 originally light. 



It is better not to put on a queen- 

 excluding honey-board at the time the 

 combs are given for the communication 

 between hive and super should be as 

 direct as possible. If the queen does 

 go up and occupy them for a few days 

 only, no harm will be done. When the 

 bees are well agoing above, the case of 

 combs may be exchanged for supers of 

 sections and foundation. Or, what I 

 consider better still, if the flow of hon- 

 ey is good, is to lift the case and put 

 the section super between it and the 

 brood chamber. Of course, when this 

 is done you must make sure that the 



