138 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



deep) for each hive; and, as this super 

 is usually left over or under the brood 

 nest the previous fall, it usually con- 

 tains some honev. 



As soon in the spring- as the colonies 

 begin to become strong, this super of 

 combs is always placed over the brood 

 nest, and in very many, or themajorit3', 

 of cases the queen hns it partially or 

 entirely filled with brood by the time 

 tiie honej' ifow comes on. 



This super of combs, or brood, as the 

 case may be, catches the earl}' dribs, 

 and we do not have to put on other 

 empty supers until the honey flow is 

 on in earnest. This super of combs 

 also helps to keep down swarming, 

 and makes the use of baits in sections 

 or other supers vmnecessary. By their 

 use, the bees at once enter the empty 

 super and go to work. Anything that 

 lessens swarming and work for out- 

 yards will pay anyone to thoroughly 

 investigate. 



After the first new super, or, in 

 reality, the second super, is on the 

 hive, we tier up the same as for home- 

 yards, except that we are sine to give 

 abundatit room. If in doubt, the addi- 

 tional super is put on top of the filled 

 ones, instead of under, as is ordinaril}^ 

 done in tiering up. The supers of 

 combs will be empty of brood, and full 

 of extracted honey, at the end of the 

 flow; and, if we are running for bulk 

 comb honey, we have a very good use 

 for it; if not, it is certainly no drug, 

 especially as we have fully that much 

 more honey than we would have had 

 without their use. For extracted 

 honey I also prefer these shallow 

 supers, because so much lighter to 

 handle, and from the fact that I do not 

 find it practicable to have or use bee- 

 escapes at out-yards. These shallow 

 supers allow us to rid them of bees the 

 same as section supers, which we do 

 by a combination of smoking and 

 jouncing, and then stacking them up 

 with a small hole left at the top of the 

 stack, when in an hour's time, nearly 



every bee has left. This is my method 

 of taking oft" the honey; and in this 

 connection let me also get a "dig" at 

 queen excluders, for in the words of 

 one of our largest honey producers, 

 the}' are in truth ahd realit}' "lioney 

 excluders." They can be very easil}' 

 dispensed with, and are just that much 

 less machinery to handle and that much 

 less expensr. Another thing, whether 

 you use 8-frame or 10-frame hives, dis- 

 card division boards; at least, during 

 the busy season, as it takes too much 

 valuable time to insert and removethem 

 when rapidlj' working the bees. 



I have already stated that I jirefer 

 to have extracted honej' put up in bar- 

 rels at the yards, and that I prefer to 

 pack comb honey at home, and to leave 

 the bees, after taking off the spring 

 crop, in the proper shape to catch the 

 summer flow. The early hone}' should 

 be hustled oft' at once, the supers 

 filled with foundation, and returned. 

 As to the bees, we should at once 

 see that none have become queenless 

 since the spring overhauling, and they 

 should be left with the brood nest and 

 the super of combs until the next honey 

 flow, should it come. If we feel sure 

 the later flow is coming, we spread 

 brood enough to get the hives again 

 well filled with brood; and this is an 

 easy matter, for, with us, immediately 

 after the spring flow is over, and the 

 honey is off, the bees begin breeding 

 as if it were spring again. 



After the summer flow is over, the 

 bee-keeper should requeen his apiarj'. 

 While this holds good always, it is 

 especially so with out-apiaries. Every 

 spring, and every fall, the bees shoiild 

 be requeened, that is, all queens re- 

 placed that do not come up to the 

 standard of prolificness; and, of course, 

 all queens showing their age should be 

 removed before the}' entirely fail. It 

 is an easy matter for the experienced 

 bee-keeper to know when to replace 

 queens, and he should see that this im- 

 portant work is not neglected. 



