THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



119 



2. I do not use a reversible section 

 case, but sometimes reverse sucli sec- 

 tions as are not capped at the bottom, 

 when nearly all the others are in the 

 same case. Reversing is sometimes 

 advisable, and the first tier of sections 

 put on would be finished sooner if re- 

 versed. When finished, they should 

 be removed from the hive before the 

 bees soil the beautilul white combs. 



3. The advantages of reversing 

 sections are in getting the whole sur- 

 face capped which the bees ai'e loath to 

 do at the close of the season. 



4. I begin to "tier up " if the col- 

 ony is strong and honey coming in fast, 

 as soon as the foundation in the first 

 set of sections is drawn out and nearly 

 full length. " Tier up " by raising the 

 first set of sections and placing an- 

 other under them. For four or five 

 days after, I have sometimes found it 

 necessary to place the third set of sec- 

 tions on the hive to accommodate the 

 bees. 



5. Yes and no. That depends on 

 the method of management aud sea- 

 son. In a poor season one set of sec- 

 tions will do; in a good season from 

 three to six cases of sections will be 

 needed. I have used six tiers of thirty- 

 two sections each (one pound sections) 

 and had them filled, but more often I 

 use but three such cases at onetime, 

 becaut^e if properly managed, the first, 

 or top set of sections will be completed 

 by the time the fourth should be put on. 



6. When the hive is full of bees and 

 brood, and honey coming in faster than 

 the bees consume it. This can be de- 

 tected by the appearance of new comb 

 between the frames at the top bar 

 where the cells have been lengthened 

 out. This indicates that the bees need 

 more room. I place one whole set of 

 thirty-two one-pound sections on at 

 one time, but wait, of course, till each 

 colony needs the room. Some seasons 

 the bees need the sections much earlier 

 than at others. We must be governed 

 by conditions. 



ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE. 



1. If the season is a poor one for sur- 

 plus honey, I use full sheets of founda- 

 tion on the sections ; but in a good sea- 

 son I see but little difference between 

 the full sheets and the V-shaped start- 

 ers and hence use the latter as a mat- 

 ter of economy. 



To fasten the foundation in the sec- 

 tions I use a little implement which is 

 an improvement on the Parker foun- 

 dation fastener. 



2. I can do no better than to rely on 

 my best judgment as to the proper 

 stage of advancement toward comple- 

 tion of the sections to do the most 

 good by inverting the case. By look- 

 ing down between the sections I can 

 tell when the tops are well finished. 

 I then invert the case to have the bot- 

 toms of the sections " plumped out." 



3. It is a well known fact that bees 

 aie inclined to finish the tops of their 

 combs more perfectly than they do the 

 bottoms, and if the inverting is done 

 at the proper time the sections will be 

 finished alike at top aud bottom. It 

 seems to me that this is a decided ad- 

 vantage. 



4. I could not produce honey to any 

 advantage in my locality without the 

 " tiering up" system. I keep a watch 

 over the section cases, and when the 

 combs are drawn out and mostly filled 

 with new honey they are lifted aud 

 empty cases put under them. 



5. My iuvertible section case holds 

 thirty-two 4;J x 4^ x 1^ sections. I use 

 from two to three cases to each hive. 

 If we have the time to watch over 

 them a little more closely, two cases 

 to each hive will give good results ; 

 but the tendency to swarm is encour- 

 aged by using the minimum number of 

 cases. 



6. I put on the section cases as soon 

 as the tops of the combs begin to turn 

 white by reason of the bees adding 

 new wax to the cells. Nothing is 

 gained by adjusting the cases sooner 

 than this, because bees refuse to build 

 comb or draw out foundation when 

 no honey is being gathered. 



Christiansburg, Ey. 



A BUNDLE OF INQUIBIES 

 AND ANSWERS. 



BY L. THULEMEYER. 



If I put one-half sheet of foundation 

 in wired frames will the bees work out 

 the other half? 



Columbus, Texas. 



Ans. Yes, but they would most likely 

 finish out with drone comb. We have 

 found this the case many times. Last 

 year we purchased twenty colonies of 

 bees ; all the combs were built on foun- 

 dation, but in some of the frames the 

 foundation did not more than one-half 

 fill the frame when it was put in and 

 all such were finished down with drone 

 comb. 



