514 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



August 18, 



otherwise be used in the production of wax for building the 

 combs, is carried up into the super, thus adding con iderably 

 to the surplus. 



The 5X-inch shallow-frame super should in all cases be 

 used if the object is extracted honey, for not only is it more 

 convenient in handling, but the bees enter it more readily 

 than they do the larger, and, for extracting purposes rather 

 unwieldy standard-frame super. 



On removing the super it should be placed in a warm 

 room, and if the work of extracting can be carried on at once, 

 while the honey is warm, it will fe an advantage, as it will 

 flow more freely than if allowed to get cold by standing a day 

 or two in a cold room. The cappings, or cell-covers, should be 

 shaved bff with a sharp knife, warmed by standing it in a 

 pitcher of hot water, and if cut from the bottom with a saw- 

 like motion while the top of the frame is held forward, the 

 cappings will remain in a sheet and fall into the pan held be- 

 low. When the uncapt combs are put into the cages of the 

 extractor, they should be so placed that the bottom-bars go 

 around first, for thus the honey is more easily thrown out as 

 it leaves the cells in the direction of the pitch given to them 

 by the bees when they are building their combs. The drip- 

 ping combs should be allowed to stand to drain for a ifv/ 

 hours : otherwise honey might be dropt about in the apiary 

 and cause robhing. 



It is always advisable to return combs wet with honey in 

 the evening so that the excitement they cause may be over by 

 the morning. Returning such combs at unsuitable times, and 

 placing scraps of comb about for the bees to clean, are un- 

 doubtedly the cause of much robbing, and, if in a foul broody 

 district, the spread of the disease. 



SECTIONAL SUPERS. 



The style of sectional super to be chosen, and the mode of 

 preparation, have already ( een explained under "Hives," 

 and therefore advice will only now be needed in order that 

 good sectional work may be produced. It is by no means an 

 easy task to obtain really well-filled sections, tho if the sec- 

 tions are properly prepared and placed upon strong colonies or 

 swarms standing near fields of white or Alsike clover, or simi- 

 larly good honey-producing crop, the bulk of the sections will 

 generally be well finisht. 



The great secret of obtaining well filled sections is to 

 crowd the bees. This is done in two ways, either by remov- 

 ing the outer frames from a strong colony and substituting 

 dummies at the commencement of the honey-flow, or by giving 

 a very strong swarm limited room in the brood-chamber when 

 hived. By adopting tho former method, the crowding has a 

 tendency to cause swarming, but so long as fine weather con- 

 tinues, and the tecs have ample, but not too much, super 

 room, so long will swarming, as a rule, be averted. It is when 

 there comes a change in the weather, compelling the bees to 

 leave the super and further crowd in the brood chamber that 

 swarming is practically certain, unless during the time they 

 are so crowded, work in the form of comb-building is given 

 by substituting empty for full frames in the brood-chamber. 

 To succeed in the production and sale of sections roQuires 

 much more skill and patience than many bee-keepers are in a 

 position to give ; it is therefore advisable that they should 

 adopt either tfie shallow-frame or the " Ivo '' supers. 



KEMOVING SUPERS. 



Until very recently the most difficult and not the least 

 dangerous of operations in the apiary was the removal of 

 supers : hut with accurately fitting parts, and the avoidance 

 of all incentive to the building of brace-combs, the difficulty is 

 removed, while, by the use of bee-escapes, the bees leave the 

 supers without disturbance. 



The two super-clearers in most general use are the cone 

 aud " Porter " escape. Tho cone is made of finely-perforated 

 zinc: it is 3 inches long. 2 inches wide at the end attacht to 

 the hive, and 14, inch at the narrow end. It is fastened over 

 a hole in the front of the roof, or fixt on the side of a box to be 

 used for clearing of bees all kinds of supers after removing 

 them from the hives. If the cone is fixt on the roof the super 

 to be moved is gently raised while a cloth or newspaper is 

 placed beneath it to imprison the bees in thesuper. The quilts 

 are next removed, so that when the bee.'^ leave the super, 

 which they will do as soon as they find they are cut off from 

 the brood chamber, they can get into the roof, from which, if 

 bee-proof all around, they can leave only by the cone. 



The box clearer must be of a size to allow the super to rest 

 evenly upon it. The straw, box, or other super is then gently 

 raised, lifted across to the box, and placed in the same posi- 

 tion upon the top of the box in which a hole 6 or 9 inches in 

 diameter is made. The bees are in this case prevented from 

 leaving the super except by passing down Into the box below. 



and then, being attracted by the light, they pass through the 

 cone lixt over an inch hole in the side. If the supers do not fit 

 evenly upon the top of the box, any holes through which bees 

 can pass should be stopt with rag or paper, otherwise the 

 sweets will be found by bees of other hives, and carried off 

 rapidly, so that in a few hours a grand super may contain 

 nothing but empty combs. 



By using the cone escape the bees are comtelled to pass 

 through the air on their way back to the brood chamber, and 

 this fact no doubt, inasmuch as it may lead to a disturbance 

 in the apiary, led the inventive mind to seek for a more satis- 

 factory method of emptying supers of bees. The best e»er 

 designed is known as the "Porter" escape, named after th& 

 inventor, an American bee keeper. It is fixt in the center of 

 a board made the same size as the super. If all sucers, there- 

 fore, are of the same pattern, one or two boards will be ample 

 for most apiaries. When the super is raised this board is 

 placed beneath it and both are then returned: but in order to 

 prevent the crusliing of bees, when replacing the super, the 

 board is fitted with a '% inch ledge running around above. By 

 placing this clearer beneath the super to be removed, the bees 



Hoiicy-Exlractor. 



Quccn-E.rclud ing Zinc. 



are prisoners until they find connection with the brood-cham- 

 ber. There is then some commotion until a passage through 

 the escape or trap in the center of the board is found. By- 

 listening at the side of the super for a few minutes a continual 

 clicking of the fine brass springs which form the trap will be 

 distinctly heard, and it will tell of the stream of Lees passing 

 down into brood-cliamter or super below. 



This method of clearing supers of bees is strongly recom- 

 mended because the bees simply pass downwards from the top 

 super or sui ers leaving the super work there intact. If the 

 clearer has been put into position with care and without jar- 

 ring the hiie, there is no disturbance caused, as the bees do. 

 not leave the hive, and the super maybe left on the hive a. 

 few hours, or longer if desired without the bee-keeper being 

 anxious as to the safety of the contents. This clearer is really 

 indispensable if show sections are bi'ing removed, for on the 

 least disturbance of the super crates the bees, according to 

 their natural inclination, commence uncapping the sealed 

 comb. If the sections are thus treated by the bees, they are 

 not only spoilt for the show table, but weep and become sticky 

 and therefore unfit for market. 



(Continued next week.) 



The Eucalyptus— Varieties and Value, 



BV PROF. A. .1. COOK. 



The attention of all visitors to California is at once at- 

 tracted to the numerous groves of eucalyptus which form a> 

 most conspicuous feature of our landscape. Their habit of 

 growth, reaching as they do away up to cloud regions, gives 

 them special prominence. As is well known, they are natives 

 of arid Australia, and so are peculiarly well fitted to our owo 

 arid clime of Southern California. When I say that there are 

 well toward 200 species of eucalyptus, it need hardly be 



