880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1.5. 



stands, losing only about one per cent. During 

 this time my trade had increased to more than 

 double the previous year. 



Syi.vestek Hii.lakd. 

 Quaker City, O., Aug. 7. 



HALF-STORY SUPERS FOR EXTRACTED HON- 

 EY. 



A VALUAHI.K PAPER BY F. A. GEMMIM.. VICE- 

 PRESIDENT ONTARIO bee-keepp:rs' 



ASSOCIATION. 



At the request of a number of Canadian bee- 

 keepers, we publish a paper read by F. A. Gem- 

 mill, at a meeting of tlie Brant Bee-keepers' 

 Association, on the subject as above. Oui- 

 space is so crowded that we are unable to pub- 

 lish, as a general thing, papers read at conven- 

 tions; but as this one is so valuable, we are 

 glad to give it space, if for no other reason than 

 that we have been requested to do so. 



As pi-omi.sed. I will attempt a short article on the 

 advantages of usitig- a super oi' half-story (in other 

 worcls, a case containing di'uwii combs lialf the 

 depth of those iisedlntlie l)i()od-cliamher) for the 

 production of No. 1 e.xti'acted Ik )ney, and as an ad- 

 jutant or iissisrant in secui'iiig' a flrst-class crop of 

 <-()iiil) linney, such as uo one need be asliamed to 

 j)lact' on ;in.\' market. 



I know tlune are objections to a piactical apiarist 

 having' different sizes and styles of liives and ennibs 

 in his apiary; still, experience teaches me, at least, 

 that tile advantages outnumber tlie disadvantages, 

 especially if the outside dimensions of the hives 

 and supers are alike. 



First, I would ask, why object to a half-story 

 containing combs such as desciibed. any mote 1 ban 

 the use of supers containing sections for comli lion- 

 ey, so long as the con)])leti' tiering up of all is not 

 interfered with? Second, Wliy shoidd bees be al- 

 lowed to cling to the brood-cluimber in the fore part 

 of the season, depositing honey therein, otdy to 

 crowd out the space wliich should lie occupied by 

 the (lueenV Simply l)ecause there is not sufficient 

 inducement to entice them to deposit it above. 



Now, we all know the giving of a full story in 

 most localities at the time when more room is need- 

 ed, is rather more space than is iiecessaiy, and con- 

 sumes too much of the heat required in the biood- 

 chamber, unless the luves are cliatt'-packed; and, 

 again, the giving of a super containing sections, 

 especially if they are not nearly all drawn out the 

 previous season, does not always succeed in gain- 

 ing the desired end. There is, liowever, no trouble 

 if a half-story of drawn combs is first given, as such 

 <'an compose a part of the brood-chamber proper, 

 sufficiently long to secure the point sought for. 

 The market requiring choice grades uf lioney is 

 yearly becoming more marked; particularly is this 

 the case in regard to variety and quality; therefore 

 I venture the opinion that, while honey maj' always 

 be honey in the proper sense of that word, still all 

 kinds of this article are not alike to a consumer any 

 more than all kinds of butter, or, in fact, any deli- 

 cacy usually found for sale, and no one knows this 

 better than bee-keepers generally. Now, in order 

 to secure the ditt'ei'ent varieties by themselves as 

 nearly as jiossible, no other system offers better 

 facilities tlian the half-stoi-y system. There are lo- 

 calities and liives where it is not only advisable but 

 necessaiy to extract from brood-combs in order to 

 secure the honey of poor quality and flavor from 

 being deposited in sections (a place, by the way, in 

 which the very finest honey only should be stored) 

 or placed in combs of full depth, when added above 

 the brood-chamber, tlius completely destroj'lng the 

 appearance and flavor of a large quantity of what 

 ought to have been a flrst-class article of clover 

 honey; and while my own locality does not differ 

 materially from the "one quoted, still my mode of 

 IH'Ocedure is somewhat different; not, however, 

 tliat it is by any means new, l)ut because I am not 

 an advocate of extracting from combs containing 

 brood, especially unsealed lai'vae, as I believe brood 

 in br<>od-coml)sand honey in stoi-e combs is the prop- 



er place for botli; in other words, the queen in 

 one apartment, and the honey in another, at all 

 times, except, of course, during winter. And right 

 here I trust yon will pardon the digression wli en I 

 state that incalculal)le damage is done yearly from 

 such work, independent of the risk of encouraging, 

 if not propagatiTig, the great curse of our pursuit; 

 viz., foul bi-ood. 



But, to resume. The method adopted by myself 

 is as follows: About the first of June, or a little ear- 

 lier in some instances, as soon as the <jneen requires 

 more room (I use the eiglit-frame Langstrotli and 

 New Heddon hives), the hive is opened, and the face 

 of every capited cell of himey is bruised by simply 

 drawing a knife flatwise across the coml), first driv- 

 ing the bees away with smoke, or, if necessary, 

 sliaking them from the combs altogether, when a 

 half-stoiy oi drawn combs, as described, is placed 

 over the brood-chamber, and the cover to the hive 

 replaced foi' two or three days, wlien it is again 

 opened and a queen-excluding hoiiey-boaid placed 

 lietween the two, as egg-depositing in supers is not 

 encouraged, altliough the presence of a few eggs 

 will do m) iiarm at this juncture, prmiding the 

 bees are not allowed to build (jueen-cells and a 

 young queen reared and destroy the one below. It 

 is, of course, presumed when the excluder is insert- 

 ed, that the >)ld queen is in the lower portion of the 

 liive. Re^■ersil)le fi-ames are said to aecomi>lish 

 this end, if the re\ersing is done at the projier time, 

 without the necessity of bruising the face of tlie 

 comb; but not having hatl an extended experience 

 with such I can give no decided opinion, although I 

 do not see why such a comse would not work. This, 

 however, I do know: the dividing of the Heddon 

 liive, -vdz., placing the top lialf below, and the bot- 

 tom part above, will etfwt the same pvu'pose. 



There will now b(> no difficulty in securing the 

 honey in its propei' place, after it has been carried 

 upstairs, from tins time liencefortli. You will 

 please observe there is no difference up to this 

 point, whether or not one is woi'king for comb or 

 extracted honey, as that caii be determined after- 

 ward, as the strength of the colony and strain or 

 race of the bees are factors that must or ought to 

 be considered, especially in producing the former 

 article. 



We will suppose extracted honey is desired. If so. 

 all that is required is to raise up the first half-story 

 oi' super containing the dark lioney stored from the 

 brood-chamljer, and any that may have accumulat- 

 ed before the flow from clover has commenced, and 

 add a second, wliich will, <jf course, now l)e filled 

 with clover, while a third or fourth may contain 

 basswood or thistle, as the case may be, and yet all 

 can be thoroughly ripened on the hive, as it should 

 be, for many reasons too luimerous to mention here. 

 If, however, for want of sufficient combs you pre- 

 fer extracting the different kinds before thorough- 

 ly ripened im the hives, it is an easy matter to place 

 one of tlie several bee-escaiie boards (preferably the 

 Porter spring contri\ance, whicli, tiy tlie way, is 

 only beginning to be half appreciated as it ought to 

 be) under each top story, and free the supers from 

 bees in a few hours. They can now be extracted 

 and again returned to the hives. Tliis way of man- 

 aging to one who has never before tried the escape 

 system, will, I fancy, become permanent with them, 

 as the pleasure of removing shallow supers, con- 

 taining nothing but honey, has only to be tried 

 once to be appreciated. 



In the event of your being a producer of comb 

 honey, all that is necessrry is to tier up as for the 

 extracted article, with this advantage, only one 

 case of sections need be given any colony, unless 

 considered advisable to do so, and this not given 

 until the honey is coming in rapidly, and the bees 

 reacly and willing to fill and seal them in short or- 

 der, and thus present you with an article as wliite 

 as snow. Instead of travel-stained, propolized sec- 

 tions, sufficient to disgust anyone from purchasing, 

 even at a low figure. Again, 1 find I can get more 

 and better comb honey with fewer unfilled sections 

 than by any other process; in fact, it is not at all 

 desirable to' carry over any partly drawn sections 

 from the previous year, as, in my own experience, 

 thev are not filled and sealed any sooner than a 

 new case of sections containing full sheets of thin 

 foundation, when added under a half-story as de- 

 scribed. 



The only valid excuse against using these half- 

 stories is the expense and the time consumed in 

 handling the double number of frames. As to the 

 flrst reason, 1 am free to admit the cost is a trifle 

 greater; still, if protected by outside cases until 



