1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



165 



Conversations with 

 Doolittle 



At Borodiuo 



HOW TO TAKE CARE OF COMBS AFTER BEES 

 HAVE DIED. 



It looks as if I should lose some of my colonies be- 

 fore the honey season opens. As I am anxious to 

 keep the same number, and perhaps increase some- 

 what, please tell me how to care for the combs and 

 hives so that they will be suitable to stock up with 

 again, either by hiving swarms or making colonies 

 by dividing, etc. 



If these hives and sets of combs are prop- 

 erly taken care of they can be used again. 

 Many seem to think that, because the combs 

 are somewhat mokly or spotted, they should 

 be thrown away or melted up, and the hive 

 scalded out or destroyed; but years of expe- 

 rience shows me that, with the loss of any 

 colony during the winter, we have not suf- 

 fered so great a loss as the first thought 

 would indicate. If we do not lose more 

 than one-third of the colonies, the loss is 

 little more than the honey that these bees 

 have consumed; for, with the remaining 

 two-thirds of the colonies left, we can soon 

 be back to where we were before, if the combs 

 and hives are properly cared for. 



The combs should be attended to in the 

 early spring, before the weather becomes 

 warm, otherwise they wall become foul. 



Of course, the bees will clean up very of- 

 fensive combs; but by a little work on our 

 part we can keep them in fairly good condi- 

 tion. The best way to store such combs is 

 on long racks made of 2x6-inch scantlings, 

 12 ft. long, nailed on the under side of the 

 roof of the store-room, the right distance 

 apart so that the frames can hang on them 

 as though they were in hives. By nailing 

 these the right distance apart, after the first 

 two are up, it takes only one more scantling 

 for each row of combs. I formerly used inch 

 stuff; but when these 12-foot spaces were 

 filled with combs, many of which contained 

 considerable honey, the supports w^ere not 

 stiff enough to hold rigidly without spring- 

 ing out of place under the weight, when the 

 ends of the top-bars would slip off. More- 

 over, with several rows of combs the top- 

 bars of 1 he frames would have to rest one 

 on top of another if supports one inch thick 

 were used. 



These long supports are much preferable 

 to hive-bodies for holding the combs, as the 

 air can circulate all through them, and any 

 combs may be selected, and those empty or 

 containing honey can be seen at a glance. 

 Even if we never lose any colonies during 

 the winter the idea is a good one, as the 

 racks are so handy for storing extracting- 

 combs or any combs which, for one reason 

 and another, are not in use. However, if 

 any one thinks otherwise the hives can be 

 used. When any colony is found dead, car- 

 ry the hive to the room, open it, take out 

 the first comb, and, with a stiff brush-broom, 

 sweep off all of the adhering bees and scrape 



o(T all brace and burr combs from the top- 

 bar and then it is ready to hang in the rack 

 overhead. 



For scraping frames and hives at a time 

 when the wax and propolis are hard and 

 brittle, I know of nothing better than an 

 old chisel, the square corners being just 

 right for all flat surfaces, and the cutting 

 edge for cleaning out the rabbets on which 

 the frames hang. After all the combs in 

 the hives have been treated like the first 

 one, scrape the empty hive to free it from 

 burr and brace combs, knobs of propolis, or 

 any thing else that w-ould interfere with the 

 easy handling of the frames of combs in the 

 future. Especial attention should be given 

 to both sides and bottoms of the rabbets. 

 In storing away the clean combs they should 

 not be pushed together as close as they 

 would be in the hive, as the close spacing is 

 a great inducement for the wax-moths, while 

 the abundance of light furnished by the 

 wide spacing keeps them aw^ay. Besides 

 this, the wider spacing gives better circula- 

 tion of air, and allows the combs to dry out 

 at once— thus keeping them sweet and 

 clean. 



The hives I would store in an attic, piling 

 them criss-cross, so the air may circulate 

 through them; then by the time they are 

 wanted, there will be no offensive odor, 

 dampness, nor any thing of the kind about 

 them. 



It is well to make an examination as 

 swarming time approaches, especially if the 

 weather is very warm; for the wax-moths 

 are always on the alert, and if the room 

 where the combs are stored is dark, these 

 insects may start to work sooner than we 

 expect. My storage room has three win- 

 dows, which makes it nearly as light as 

 though the combs were out in the sun; and 

 by keeping each comb an inch or so from 

 the other, I have very little trouble. I am 

 careful to use those combs first which show 

 any indication of the moths, so there is nev- 

 er much damage done. 



During a good yield of honey from fruit- 

 bloom, any especially dirty combs may be 

 cleaned up by removing one or two frames 

 of honey from each strong colony and put- 

 ting these dirty combs in their places. I 

 am referring now to very moldy combs, 

 those having dead bees packed in the cells, 

 moldy pollen, etc. These should all have 

 been kept by themselves. Such combs 

 placed in strong colonies during fruit-bloom 

 will be cleaned and transformed within 

 forty-eight hours so that they can hardly be 

 told from the best in the apiary. 



Eight and Ten Frame Hives. 



I have 23 colonies, 14 in eight-frame hives and 9 In 

 the ten-frame, and find that the latter are by far the 

 best. My strongest colonies are always in the ten- 

 frame hives, and they make more honey than those 

 in the eight-frame. Besides this, the colonies in the 

 ten-frame winter better, and are stronger in the 

 spring. After this I shall have ten-frame hives 

 only, and the Hofifman frame is good enough for 

 me. 



Chickasha, Okla. J, H, Flippo. 



