1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



791 



GRADING AND DISPOSING OF SEC- 

 TION HONEY AT THE CLOSE OF 

 THE HARVEST. 



SOME SEASONABLE HINTS FROM DR. MILLER. 



'HEN sections are taken off at the close of 

 the white-honey harvest, they vary all the 

 way from those perfectly tinished to those 

 upon which the Ijees have not worked at 

 all. After the perfectly tinished, come 

 those full of honey, but having a few cells uncap- 

 ped. If these uncapped cells are on the margin ad- 

 joining the wood I should class them with the best. 

 If there are uncapped cells away from the wood, 

 ranging from half a dozen cells to a full side of the 

 section, then it is a little difficult to decide just 

 what is best to do. It depends a little upon what 

 may be expected further in the way of a honey- 

 tlow, and also somewhat upon the market. If a 

 few cells are tilled out with dark honey, and then 

 capped, they will in some, if not all markets, be 

 just as unsalable as if left uncapped and pure 

 white. For it must be remembered that, after a 

 comb is what is called full but unsealed, it is really 

 not full, but will weigh considerably more after it 

 is sealed. These sections under consideration may 

 be tinished up by feeding back white, extracted 

 honey; but after a good deal of experience in that 

 line, I am getting more and more away from feed- 

 ing back, and I think, on the whole, I would sell 

 these sections with a lew cells uncapped, just as 

 they are, at a small reduction in price. If, after 

 the clover crop, there comes, shortly, cucumber, or 

 some other hones' nearly as light as clover, then it 

 may be best to allow the bees to finish up the sec- 

 tions, especially if a fourth or more of one or both 

 sides are unsealed. As a general rule, I would 

 make a second class of all sections apparently full, 

 but lacking the sealing. Then come those not full 

 of honey, and not sealed. They may be filled out 

 by the fall crop, if that is a pretty sure thing, or 

 they may be extracted. If they have not proceed- 

 ed to the capping stage, and are kept clean, they 

 will, after being extracted, come into play nicely 

 the next season: and if it is profitable to raise ex- 

 tracted honej' by extracting from full frames, why 

 may it not be profitable to extract from sections? 



Then come those sections which are not as much 

 as one-fourth full. If it is very desirable to have 

 more extracted honey, or if time is not valuable, 

 these may be classed with the last lot, and extract- 

 ed. I prefer, however, generally, to let the bees 

 clean out all such sections as have in them only a 

 few drops of honey, and from that up to a quarter 

 of a pound ; so these sections are put with those 

 that have been extracted. I set it down as an im- 

 portant rule, that no section in which there has 

 been the least drop of honey, and which is intended 

 to be used again, shall ever go into winter without 

 being first thoroughly cleaned out, and that hy the 

 hees. This for more than one reason. Itis easier to 

 keep them free from mice, if no particle of honey 

 is on them. They will look brighter for next sea- 

 son, if cleaned perfectly dry this fall. And, most of 

 all, if not cleaned bone dry, the little particles of 

 honey left in the cells will, sometimes at least, in- 

 jure the quality of the honey stored in them next 

 season. The earlier they are cleaned out by the 

 bees, the better. They may be put on the hives of 

 colonies which are a little short of stores, and left 

 for the bees to carry down. This is probably the 



best disposal so far as saving the honey is concern- 

 ed. But that is a secondary matter, compared with 

 getting the sections cleaned, and sometimes the 

 bees are slow about taking down the honey from 

 above, so I prefer a different plan. At a distance 

 of five rods or more from the apiary, place a super 

 filled with the sections in question upon a super 

 cover or other flat surface, letting the super pro- 

 ject over just enough at one corner so that a single 

 bee can get in from below, and having it bee-tight 

 at all other points; then cover the toi> with a super 

 cover so that it will be kept dry if a shower comes. 

 Instead of a single super, I have had as many as six 

 piled up, but only the entrance for a single bee at 

 the bottom of the lower super. Now, don't allow 

 an opening large enough for several bees to enter, 

 and then grumble because the bees gnaw great 

 holes in the comb, and even tear down entire sec- 

 tions. They'll surely do it if they can enter fast 

 enough. After the honey seems all emptied out, — 

 and this may be in half a day, or it maj* be in three 

 days,— take from the pile one or all except the low- 

 er one, and put them in another pile close by, mak- 

 ing the pile in every respect as before, only allow 

 free entrunce for a number of bees. The opening 

 is from below merely to keep all rain-proof. I said, 

 take all from the first pile except the lower one. 

 That keeps your old entrance as before, and you 

 can now put on sui)ers of fresh sections to be clean- 

 ed; and, as fast as emptied, pile them up on the 

 second or other piles, allowing the bees free access, 

 and leave them thus a good many days, so that you 

 may be sure the bees have licked off from them the 

 last vestige of honey. A foot-note may and ought 

 to tell you to beware of robbing; but follow my in- 

 structions literally in detail, and no robbing will oc- 

 cur. C. C. MlLLEI!. 



Marengo, Til. 



Friend M., you have omitted to say any 

 thing in regard to the matter that came up 

 at the national convention in Chicago, about 

 disposing of old sections in some other way 

 than putting them on the 1 lives for the new 

 honey crop. If only a small part of the evi- 

 dence brought to light at that meeting in re- 

 gard to this matter is true, 1 think we had 

 better sell, or get rid of in some way, as 

 many of the unlinished sections as we possi- 

 bly can, and avoid, as much as possible, hav- 

 ing them left over to make a second quality 

 of comb honey the next season. I do think 

 this matter of feeding bees honey in the 

 open air is dangerous business in the liands 

 of a novice, no matter how faithfully he 

 may try to follow your directions. Tilings 

 won't work with them as they do with you, 

 and then the neighbors will be annoyed by 

 the robbing bees, and a neighborhood quar- 

 rel may result, and especially if there are 

 many near neighbors. The season of the 

 year probably has something to do witli it ; 

 but in our locality, when our bees have got 

 a taste of stolen sweets, and become savage, 

 I can not believe that you could put many 

 outdoors in the way you describe, without 

 raising a big row in "this whole neighbor- 

 hood ; therefore whoever undertakes to 

 clean out sections in this way will do well to 

 remember that their old friend A. I. Eoot 

 says, try a little at a time, and see how that 

 work.s before you put out a big pile of sec- 

 tions with a little honey in them. 



