July 1, 1911 



the bees down or shaking them, and then 

 give comb-honey supers to take the place of 

 the brood -sections removed. The single 

 section of brood left is large enough to main- 

 t lin the strength of the colony. Fig. 2 

 shows two colonies in Augvist during the 

 flow of alfalfa which were reduced to a single 

 section of brood on .fune 15. Each has two 

 comb-honey supers finished, and three were 

 removed from each one on .July 10. Usual- 

 ly from the 1st to the 10th of August we 

 take away all coml)-honey supers and give 

 sectional brood-combs for the colonies to 

 build up and store in for winter from fall 

 bloom of goldenrod, asters, " queen-of-the- 

 May,'' snakeroot, etc. 



The sectional hive has this advantage al- 

 so: After a colony has been breeding in a 

 large hive, one can easily reduce brood-rear- 

 ing to a minim um at a time when bees should 

 be building comb instead of raising a fami- 

 ly of consumers; for all bees, in excess of the 

 loss, hatcheil during .July, are of no value 

 unless in a buckwheat location; therefore, 

 retarding brood-rearing during the white- 

 honey flow is of benetiir to the colony. 



The queen will occupy a small brood- 

 chamber so completely that the best honey 

 will not be stored in the brood-combs. After 

 the white-honey flow is over, and the second 

 section of brooil-combs is given, egg-laying 

 having been retarded for two months, the 

 queen will occui)y the combs very rapidly, 

 and the bees that hatch from this time on 

 are the ones that live through the winter. 

 This plan gives a colony about twice the 

 number of young bees hatched in Septem- 

 ber that can be obtained from an eight-frame 

 Langstroth hive worked in the usual way, 

 and about a third more than the ten-frame 

 hive would yield. A large colony with con- 

 siderable honey in the brood-nest does not 

 show the same zest for brood-rearing as does 

 a colony of medium strength. 



Another strong point in favor of the sec- 

 tional hive is the bee-spaces between the 

 two sets of frames, which makes possible a 

 passageway for the bees to reach their stores 

 without moving over or under or around the 

 cold ends of the frames. The honey should 

 be, and usiuvlly is, in the upper sections, 

 which will hold from 30 to 85 lbs. The low- 

 er section, being mostly empty, affords an 

 ideal brood-nest for successful wintering. 



C'amillus, N. Y. 



403 



the brood-chamber below, except one comb 

 where the queen is found laying. Leave 

 this one comb in the brood-chamber, and in 

 ])lace of the others removed put in combs 

 drawn out the year before from full sheets 

 of foundation. After the cover is put on, 

 all the bees should be brushed in front of 

 the entrance. Then after smidown, when 

 all the bees are in, I remove the co\er with 

 as little siuoke as possible, and put on the 

 comb-honey supers containing full sheets of 

 foundation and sections. I generally i)ut 

 on two supers at a time, although this de- 

 l)ends on the strength of the colony. One 

 who has tried it will be surprised to see how 

 the bees go to work and draw out the foun- 

 dation in the sections. I remove all the 

 brood but one frame, in the manner stated, 

 to give the queen laying room. A colony 

 having a young queen, with plenty of empty 

 combs for laying, will hardly ever swarm. 



With the brood that I remove I strengthen 

 weak colonies, and occasionally place some 

 of it in extracting-supers to coax the bees 

 above. 



With this plan I have been able to pro- 

 duce the finest comb honey, and I have had 

 but very little swarming, although I have 

 generally used shade-boards, or blocked up 

 the hives one or two inches from the bottom- 

 boards to provide extra ventilation in the 

 hottest weather. 



To prevent swarming when colonies are 

 run for extracted honey, plenty of drawn 

 comb should be on hand, or, of course, full 

 sheets of comb foundation will do. By ex- 

 tracting the combs as fast as they are seal- 

 ed, and giving the bees plenty of comb space 

 all the time, they will keep right on work- 

 ing without swarming. 



In the engravings showing the bees on 

 my hat and arm, a number of four-story 

 colonies will be seen. The two lower bodies 

 (eight-frame) I use for brood, while the two 

 upper ones are the extracting-supers. I have 

 my apiary in a young a])ple-orchard where 

 there is just the right amount of shade. 



North Buena Vista, la. 



HOME-MADE CAPPING-MELTERS. 



A Successful Outfit for Disposing of Cappings; 

 the Result of Considerable Experimenting. 



BY G. W. HAINES. 



PRODUCING EITHER COMB OR EXTRACTED 

 HONEY WITHOUT SWARMING. 



BY B. F. SCHMIDT. 



In order to produce the finest comb honey, 

 the apiarist must have all colonies very 

 strong, and the bees must be taught to work 

 in an extracting-super before any comb-hon- 

 ey supers are given. When all colonies are 

 working strong in the extracting-supers, 

 and the honey-flow has well started, the ex- 

 tracting-super should be set back of the hive- 

 stand, and all the brood taken away from 



I have made several capping-melters; but 

 the last one, which I used at the home api- 

 ary, worked the best. In the winter I usu- 

 ally make whatever I need the next season, 

 and last February I made five new melters 

 like the one here described, one for each 

 out-apiary. 



The first melter I ever made had a small 

 tin tube for the wax and honey to run out; 

 but I found this would clog up and cause 

 the honey to overheat. I kept putting in a 

 larger and larger tube until I finally left the 

 whole front of the melter open; then my 

 first machines held so much water that it 



