106 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Getting Bees Out of Supers. 



— Mr. Alfred Rusbridge, of Chichester, 

 England, author of a book on "Bee- 

 Keeping ; Plain and Practical," sent us, 

 on June 23, 1892, the following about 

 removing honey from the hives, and 

 getting the bees out of the surplus ar- 

 rangements, which will be very timely 

 now : 



Favored by the fine spell of genial 

 weather prevailing since the flowering 

 time of the fragrant hawthorn, or May- 

 flower, bees are filling the supers in a 

 manner alike creditable to their habits 

 of industry and perseverance, and grati- 

 fying to their owner. To an enthusias- 

 tic apiarist, whether he be a novice or a 

 veteran, a pile of well-filled supers on 

 the hives in his own apiary, is a sight 

 delightful to contemplate ; the whole 

 process of comb-building — So wonderfully 

 and beautifully done — being expedi- 

 tiously and most artistically " executed 

 on the premises " by his own staff of 

 exceedingly clever artisans, good temp- 

 lars one and all, who toil merrily in 

 their vocation, the livelong day, week 

 by week the season through, without 

 pay, and without any thought of strik- 

 ing for an eight-hour working-day ! 



My aim is to show the inexperienced 

 bee-keeper in the simplest possible man- 

 ner, how to dispossess his bees of their 

 surplus honey, stored in the supers, 

 without trouble, and, what is more to 

 the purpose, without danger of getting 

 stung in the process. 



In the height of summer, the best time 

 for removing supers from the hives is 

 either early in the morning, say before 

 8 o'clock, or, if this time of day be not 

 convenient, late in the afternoon. Let 

 us take our station at the rear of the 

 hive to be operated upon. Don veil and 

 gloves, and you are sting proof. A few 

 simple articles are requisite, i. e., furni- 

 gator, Aston's bee-trap, attached to a 

 shallow wooden tray, and four wedges, 

 each nine inches long by an inch broad, 

 tapering from an inch in thickness to a 

 point. Shorter wedges are very liable 

 to slip in the process. 



The fumigator being in readiness, we 

 first of all pry the supers gently up from 

 their attachment to the top of the hive 

 (a putty knife is most suitable for the 

 purpose) sufficiently to insert the wedges 

 at the corners. These we gradually push 

 in, meanwhile briskly plying the fumi- 

 gator around to drive the bees inwards. 

 Alarmed at the sudden invasion of 



smoke, they are rushing panic-stricken 

 from the top of the hives downwards 

 into the brood-combs. A few seconds 

 pass, and the whole pile, 60 pounds 

 weight at least, is then lifted bodily off, 

 and placed on top of the tray close by. 

 The only outlet from this is through the 

 bee-trap attached to the side. Tiny 

 slips of talc close its half-dozen aper- 

 tures. These yield to the slightest 

 pressure froni the inside, and once out- 

 side the bees cannot possibly re-enter. 



If the queen is not in the supers (and 

 she is generally absent, as a rule), the 

 bees soon miss her and become excited, 

 and commence humming loudly. Ere 

 long they fairly stream out of the out- 

 lets of the bee-trap. By the evening, or 

 the next morning, as it may be, the 

 super is cleared of every bee. 



But, on the other hand, if the queen 

 chance to be present in the supers at 

 the time — which contingency may pos- 

 sibly happen, say once in a dozen in- 

 stances — the bees are then very loth to 

 quit. In this case, allow the supers to 

 remain undisturbed on the tray for 

 another day, by which time the major 

 portion of the bees will have quitted it 

 for the purpose of their usual daily 

 foraging in the fields, entering the hive 

 (and not the supers) on their return 

 home. Apply to the latter a little extra 

 fumigation, after which carefully re- 

 move the honey-combs, one by one, and 

 as soon as the queen is seen (her majesty 

 is easily recognized by her long, taper- 

 ing body) gently brush her off with a 

 feather at the hive entrance. 



It is well to have an empty super in 

 readiness close at hand (unless the sea- 

 son is over), to replace the filled ones as 

 soon as the latter are removed, as, dur- 

 ing the honey-gathering season every 

 day is of importance. 



The material which I invariably use 

 for fumigating purposes, consists of 

 a sugar-bag previously well cleansed 

 and dried, cut up, and rolled into pieces 

 the size of sausage. It is very effective, 

 perfectly harmless to the bees, and 

 leaves no unpleasant odor behind. 



In June more than 90,000 people, 

 or a daily average of 3,000, visited the 

 World's Fair grounds and paid 25 cents 

 each to see the sights. The largest at- 

 tendance on any one day was 12,038, 

 on May 29. 



Be Sure to read offer on page 101. 



