368 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



)nies are reduced by S. I). House to a single section of brood at 

 the beginning of the clover-tlow. 



PRODUCTION OF FANCY COMB HONEY. 



Some of the Details of the System Used in Produc- 

 ing an Exceptionally High Grade of Honey. 



BY S. D. HOUSE. 



In the production of comb lioney we lay 

 the foundation the fall preceding by giving 

 as many colonies young (pieens as possible, 

 reared during August, or the first half of Sep- 

 tember atjthei latest. %; My first 

 work in the si)ring is to see that 

 the ))rood-nesl is in iiroi)er con- 

 dition to permit the bees to de- 

 velo]) to the greatest advantage. 

 Some colonies will have too 

 much honey, while others will 

 be short. I do not allow solid 

 combs of sealed honey on two 

 sides of brood — I i)lace all such 

 at the outside. There should 

 always be empty combs in the 

 broo(l-nest during the months 

 of Ai)ril and May. 



During the early ]iart of May 

 I cli]) all queens — the right wing 

 the first year and the left wing 

 the second year. This leaves 

 the yearlings with both wings 

 clii)i)ed. I also use a piece of 

 section tacked on the hive, up- 

 on which I make a record when 

 the ((ueen was clipped, which 

 enables me to tell at a glance 

 the age of the queen. When it 

 comes to hiving swarms, this 

 system enables me to care for 

 more swarms with less labor 

 than if I were getting them out 

 of a tree. If a swarm issues with 

 a clii)ped queen I find her with- 



in a few feet of the 

 hive. She is caged; and 

 while tlie swarm is still 

 in the air I remove the 

 brood section of the old 

 hive and put in its 

 place one with full 

 sheets of foundation, 

 and one or two empty 

 combs to catch the pol- 

 len. I replace the su- 

 pers, and when the 

 swarm has returned I 

 release the queen; and 

 by the use of the shal- 

 low frame the work in 

 the supers goes on as 

 though the colony had 

 not swarmed. 



Usually, during fruit- 

 bloom, most of the col- 

 onies need more room. 

 A section of the brood- 

 chamber filled with full 

 sheets of foundation is 

 given which is drawn 

 out and occupied with 

 brood and honey by 

 the time clover opens; 

 t hen the colonies are re- 

 duced to a single section of brood (Fig. 1), 

 the section of new combs being left on the 

 old stand. The bees from the other i)art of 

 the hive are shaken; and if increase is desir- 

 ed, this section is placed ui)on a new stand 

 and a queen-cell given that will hatch within 

 a short time. The colony will be so reduced 

 that, after the young queen hatches, they 

 will destroy all other cells. (Cells in sec- 

 tional hives are ipiickly destroyed, as they 

 are built near the bottom-bar of the upjier 



Fig. 2.---<,>u( t n 11 lis ill sfctlonal hives are nearly always built 

 along the l)i)lloni,s of the upper combs, and are thus 

 easily removed. 



