April, 1921 



a T. K A N I N G S IN BEE C XT I, T U R E 



229 



out when they are not in use, then later 

 these openings are filled with drone comb. 



GIVING SKrON'l) HIVKUODV ABOVK OR BELOW. 



Question. — In building up rolonies in the spring 

 when two stories are used for brood-rearing, should 

 the second hive-body witli frames of foundation be 

 placed below or above the colony, or distriljuted in 

 both? Alan Eby. 



Ohio. 



Answer. — When only frames of founda- 

 tion are given they should usually be dis- 

 tributed in both stories, with most of the 

 foundation in the upper story. In fact, one 

 or two frames of brood are enough to put 

 into the second story, the remainder being 

 frames of foundation. When empty combs 

 are given to colonies that are strong enough 

 in the spring to need a second stoiy they 

 may as well be x)laced on top, altho many 

 beekeepers prefer to place them below if 

 the weather is cool. A serious objection to 

 placing them below is that the queen some- 

 times fails to go down and lay in the combs 

 below even when crowded, especially when 

 the upper portion of the combs in the lower 

 hive-body is not suitable for brood-rearing 

 on account of stretched cells. If the empty 

 combs are placed above, the queen usually 

 goes up readily if more room is needed, espe- 

 cially if old dark combs are used in the 

 second story. 



SHALLOW EXTRACTING SUPER TO PRKVKNT 

 SWARMING. 



Question. — How is this plan for conib-lioney pro- 

 duction? After unpacking in the spring, put on a 

 shallow extracting super with foundation , to pro- 

 vide more room for brood-rearing. Just before the 

 honey flow, take tliis off and put on the supers. 

 Would this do away with .swarming? In the fall 

 this super of honey could be put back liefore pack 

 ing for winter. John P. Drake. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — It will be better to have the 

 shallow extracting supers filled with combs 

 instead of frames of foundation, for unless 

 there is an early honey flow the bees would 

 not draw out the foundation readily. You 

 can, of course, induce them to do this by 

 feeding, if necessary. When empty combs 

 or combs containing some honey are given 

 above the brood-chamber early enough, 

 swarming is usually delayed, because of this 

 additional room; but, when this shallow ex- 

 tracting super is removed and comb-honey 

 supers are given, the colonies so treated will 

 probably prepare to swarm if the season is 

 at all favorable for swarming. The addi- 

 tional honey which your plan provides for 

 next spring is an excellent thing for spring 

 brood-rearing. See article on Comb Honey 

 Production in this issue. 



GIVING ADDITIONAL ROOM FOR SPRING BROOD- 

 REARING. 



Question. — How can I give my bees more room 

 for brood-rearing after the lower hive is full when 

 I have nothing to put in the supers but sections ''. 



Ohio. Mrs. Arthur May. 



Answer. — When your strongest colonies 

 need more room for brood-rearing, previous 

 to the honey flow, in producing comb honey, 

 yon will proliably find some colonii's tli.-it 



still have some combs which do not contain 

 bi'ood or much honey. If you find any such 

 you can exchange combs of lirood, together 

 with the adhering bees, from the colonies 

 that need more room for the empty combs 

 from the hives which are not filled with 

 ])rood. In this way you can give your strong- 

 est colonies more room and at the same time 

 help those which are less strong. When mak- 

 ing this exchange be sure that you do not 

 take away the queen with tlio combs of 

 brood. The empty combs that are taken from 

 the weaker colonies should have the adher- 

 ing bees shaken back into their own hives. 



CLIPPING queen's WINGS. 



Question. — Is it best to clip the quep,n's wings 

 early in the spring to prevent swarming? 



Iowa. Edward Mek-h. 



Answer. — Clipping the wings of the queen 

 does not prevent swarming. It only prevents 

 the queen going with the swarm. This i)re- 

 veiits the swarm from going away, since 

 the bees will return when they find that the 

 queen is not with them unless there haj)- 

 pens to be another swarm out at the same 

 time which has a queen that can fly. In 

 such eases the two "swarms may unite and 

 later abscond if not cared for. 



HOW MANY SUPERS NEEDED PER COLONY. 



Question. — How many full-depth extracting supers 

 will I need for each colony when using the stand- 

 ard 10-frame supers with eight combs in each 

 super? Louis F. Kasch. 



Illinois. 



Answer. — You may need only one super 

 or you may need three or more, depending 

 upon the season and the character of the 

 honey flow. In some localities the honey 

 flow is so slow and the nectar ripens so 

 quickly that much of the honey in the su)>er 

 may be ripened and sealed before the first 

 super is filled, in which case the ripest honey 

 may be extracted and the empty combs re- 

 turned, leaving the unripe honey (usually 

 the outside combs) in the hive to be ripened 

 and extracted later. If by doing this the 

 honey can be fully ripened and at the same 

 time there are always empty combs in the 

 super for incoming nectar, a single super 

 may be enough. 



In other localities the honey flow may 

 be so rapid that a single super would not 

 furnish sufficient room for the thin nectar 

 for more than a few days, and sometimes 

 two or three supers may be filled before 

 any of the honey is ripe enough to be ex- 

 tracted. Where the honey flow is short and 

 rapid, as it is sometimes in northern Illi- 

 nois, the beekeeper is usually too busy to do 

 much extracting during the honey flow. In 

 such cases the only way that the full cro]) 

 of honey can be secured is to have on hand 

 plenty of supers, in order that when more 

 room is needed it can be given at once. 



In the clover region many beekeepers 

 prefer to leave all the honey on the hives 

 until after the close of the honey flow. When 

 this is done there should be three or nuire 

 supers for each colony, to take care of tlie 

 crop iluriug ii good season. 



