184 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



October 



work of a moment to do the whole trick. 



Lastly, I rake up all grass, leaves and 

 twigs so that any chance grass fiires will 

 not run in among my hives and send 

 them up in smoke. 



Providence, R. I. Sept. 4. 1901. 



Envy's a sharper spur than pay. 

 And, unprovoked, 'twill court the fray; 

 No author ever spared a brother. 

 Wits are game-cocks to one another. 



— Oay. 



UNCAPPED SECTION HONEY. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTI.E. 



A CORRESPONDENT writes as fol- 

 lows: "I am told that no section 

 should ever be taken from the 

 hive till fully sealed over. Is this-right? 

 Please answeir in The American Bee- 

 keeper." 



Asa'general rule this is good advice, 

 but there are times when the yield of 

 white honey is just over and the yield 

 from buckwheat or of dark honey is 

 about to commence, that a loss in price 

 may be the result if this is strictly ad- 

 hered to. Mr. M. Quinby said years ago, 

 and with much truth, too, that all boxes 

 two-thirds sealed over containing white 

 honey, should be taken off before buck- 

 wheat honey was stored in them at the 

 beginning of that yield, as such partly 

 capped boxes of white honey would bring 

 more than when finished with dark 

 honey, thus giving a cake of honey which 

 was neither light or dark, and one which 

 was not attractive in appearance nor 

 agreeable to the taste. But I think I 

 hear some one say, "If I take off honey 

 before all the cells are sealed it is likely 

 to take on dampness from the surround- 

 ing air and thus sweat and become 

 sour?" This is because you are keeping 

 your honey in an improper place, such 

 as a cellar or other cool, damp place, 

 where the 'best of honey will deteriorate 

 after a time and become unfit for food. 

 All honey should be ston d in a dry, airy 

 room which can be kept at a temperature 

 of about 80° to 90° all the time, and in 

 such a place the honey will be growing 



better all the while, whether sealed or 

 unsealed. In this way it soon becomes 

 so thick that the honey in these unsealed 

 cells will not run out in crating, and if 

 tipped over on the side of the comb, not 

 a drop will be found otherwise than, 

 where it belongs, so that there is no 

 daubing of the sections, hands or crate, ' 

 which daubing is always spoken of as the 

 reason why honey that is unsealed 

 should not be removed from the hives. 

 But, even if you have this unsealed 

 honey in perfect order it is liable to be 

 stored in some damp place while on the 

 market, therefore I would always advise 

 leaving honey on the hives till it is seal- 

 ed, with the exception of times when 

 honey of an inferior nature is likely to 

 be stored with it. But I think I hear 

 another say, "How about the close of 

 the harvest for the year? I have lots of 

 unsealed honey wiien the season closes." 

 My plan of operation to secure all capped 

 sections at the end of the season, as 

 nearly as may be is as follows: When 

 the bees show by lengthening out the 

 cell's along the top bars to the frames 

 that they are securing honey from the 

 fields, I put on five wide frames of sec- 

 tions, each wide frame holding four one- 

 po and sections each, so we have room to 

 the amount of twenty pounds capacity 

 to start with. These are left like this 

 until the bees are well at work in them, 

 when I add two to four more wide 

 frames, placing these at the sides of 

 those first given. When this room is 

 fully occupied I give more room at the 

 sides, to about the same amount given 

 the last time, and where I use the tiering 

 up plan I have it so arranged that I can 

 expand in a small enough capacity so 

 that the bees are not discouraged by 

 having too much room given them at 

 once. By the time the bees fully occupy 

 the room last given them at the sides, 

 the first twenty sections are ready to 

 come off, and when this is taken off the 

 partly filled sections on either side are 

 drawn together over the center of the 

 brood nest, and wide frames of empty 



