GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mabch, 1922 



extracted honey })iodiu-ers, prefer the Jumbo 

 hive, which is the same size as the standard 

 hive except in depth, being 214 inches deep- 

 er. Formerly the standard-depth hive made 

 to hold eight frames was quite popular in 

 this country, and many extensive honey pro- 

 ducers still use this size. While the expert 

 can produce just as much honey using 8- 

 frame hives as if using larger ones, the be- 

 ginner will do well to select the larger hive, 

 since a single 8-frame brood-chamber is not 

 large enough for the development of full- 

 strength colonies in the spring, and too 

 often such'small hives do not contain enough 

 honey for winter and spring for safety. 

 Those who desire to use a size other than 

 the standard 10-frame hive will find it safer 

 to use a larger rather than a smaller one. 

 Beginners who are undecided as to which 

 size is best suited to their locality can safe- 

 ly select the standard 10-frame hive, this 

 being the size most universally used. 



Where the winters are not too severe the 

 double-walled hives with built-in packing 

 are desirable, especially for beginners who 

 do not expect to move their colonies often, 

 as many extensive honey producers do. In 

 the extreme South and in California where 

 extra protection is not necessary in winter, 

 as well as in the far North where the bees 

 are wintered in the cellar or packed in 

 large winter packing cases outside, most 

 beekeepers prefer the single-walled hive, 

 tho a few who winter their bees in cellars 

 use double-walled hives on account of their 

 better protection during cool weather after 

 the bees are set out in the spring. Those 

 who are undecided as to which style of hive 

 will best suit their needs will not go far 

 wrong by selecting the single-walled hive, 

 preferably with the metal cover; but in 

 most parts of the country these hives must 

 be given extra protection either by pack- 

 ing them in a winter case or by placing 

 them in a good cellar for winter. What- 

 ever hive is selected, a full sheet of foun- 

 dation should be included for each of the 

 frames. 



What Kind of Supers, for Beginners? 

 Supers are separate chambers designed for 

 the storage of surplus honey, which the bee- 

 keeper takes from the bees. They are placed 

 on top of the brood-chamber or hive proper, 

 and are so constructed that any required 

 number of them can be tiered up on top of 

 the brood-chamber. 



Supers arc made for either comb honey or 

 extracted honey. Comb honey is usually 

 produced in sections (small wooden boxes), 

 but for home use and in some localities in 

 the South for- market, comb honey is pro- 

 duced in frames holding when filled several 

 pounds. When comb honey is produced in 

 sections the box is sold with the honey, but 

 when produced in larger frames the comb 

 honey is cut out in chunks. This is called 

 bulk comb honey, or chunk honey. 



Honey that is to be extracted is usually 



produced in frames of the same size as those 

 in the brood-chamber, the honey when fin- 

 ished being thrown out of the combs by 

 means of the honey-extractor. The combs 

 are not injured in the process of extracting, 

 and they are given back to the bees to be 

 refille.d, so in producing extracted honey the 

 combs to hold the surplus honey need to be 

 built but once. 



Most beginners produce comb honey at 

 first to avoid purchasing an extractor the 

 first season, tho comb-honey production is 

 more difficult than extracted-honey produc- 

 tion on account of more trouble from swarm- 

 ing and greater difficulty in inducing the 

 bees to work in the comb-honey supers as 

 readily and as vigorously as they do in ex- 

 tracting-supers. Until considerable skill in 

 comb-honey production has been acquired, 

 the yield of extracted honey is usually near- 

 ly double that of comb honey. In many 

 cases where the honey is sold locally, ex- 

 tracted honey can be sold at the same price 

 as comb honey. Wherever this can be done, 

 of course, an extractor will soon pay for 

 itself. On the other hand, the present 

 wholesale price of comb honey is more than 

 double the wholesale priec of extracted hon- 

 ey, and in some cases it is more profitable 

 to produce comb honey. Comb-honey pro- 

 duction is more fascinating to most begin- 

 ners, and being more difficult the beginner 

 usually learns faster when producing comb 

 honey. 



The style of super used most extensively 

 l)y comb-honey producers is the one de- 

 signed for the 4yix4%xl% beeway sec- 

 tions. The style of extracting-super used 

 most extensively is the regular standard 

 hive-body Ofg inches deep, which is made 

 exactly like tlie standard brood-chamber, 

 tho some prefer the shallow extracting- 

 supers. The style of super best suited for 

 the production of bulk comb honey is the 

 shallow extracting-super. To hold the crop 

 of honey, from two to four comb-honey su- 

 pers will be needed by all good colonies if 

 the season is at all favorable, or from one 

 to three full-depth extracting-supers if ex- 

 tracted honey is to be produced. In some 

 seasons double this number of supers are 

 needed. 



Full slieots of foundation should be used 

 in all the sections and all extracting frames. 

 Medium brood foundation is usually the 

 best weight for both the brood-frames and 

 the extracting frames, and thin super foun- 

 dation is usually the best weight to use for 

 comb-honey supers. 



If comb honey is to be produced, about 

 one additional hive will be needed for every 

 two colonies in the spring for swarms, if 

 the season is favorable for swarming. If 

 extracted honey is to be produced, these 

 extra hives are not necessary unless increase 

 is desired. 



In addition to hives and supers and their 

 inside furniture, the beginner will need a 

 (Oontiniied on pa^e 177.) 



