1907 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



313 



leave the matter of ventilation entirely with 

 the bees, only arranging to give them an 

 ample opening. 



■::.:■ -'^-Ss0-l^ ■'W'W. 



GETTING READY FOR THE SURPLUS. 



"Say, Mr. Doolittle, I came over to have 

 a little talk with you al)out getting ready for 

 the surplus honey during the season of 1907, 

 if we should have such surplus. Will you 

 tell me something about this ? " 



"Well, Mr. Jones, the first thing to do is 

 to fix all of your surplus arrangements, and 

 have them all in apple-pie order when the 

 harvest arrives; and in order that they may 

 be thus, the best time so to fix them is right 

 now before the rush of work comes on in the 

 spring. ' ' 



"I presume you are right in this matter: 

 and as I have some time at my c-ommand I 

 came over to ask you how best to do this. 

 Will you tell me ? " 



"The first thing to do is to get around all 

 your supers which yoii used last year and 

 clean them of propolis or any bits of wax 

 that may be on them, and repair any which 

 may be out of repair from the work of last 

 season." 



"Yes; and what is the best way to clean 

 these supers where they are badly covered 

 with propolis ? " 



"My way is to take an old dull chisel and 

 grind the edge and sides so that all have a 

 square corner which is as sharp as a square 

 corner can be made. Then do the work at 

 a time when the mercury stands at from ten 

 to twenty degrees above zero, wearing over- 

 coat and mittens to keep warm if necessary." 



"Why do you want it so cold ? " 



"Because the propolis is very brittle then, 

 and will break and fiy off before the chisel, 

 as it will not do with a temperature which 

 would be agreeable for you to do this work 

 as to warmth. ' ' 



"I see now. But how do you use the 

 chisel ? ' ' 



"On all flat surfaces where the sides of 

 the chisel can be used, I lay the sides down 

 flat on the material to be scraped, when with 

 a drawing sliding motion, from side to side, 

 I pass the chisel quickly over the smeared 

 parts, and the corners of the chisel cause the 

 propolis or wax to fly off in great shape, so 

 that it takes less time to clean a super than 

 it does to tell how it is done. Then if there 

 are any corners where the flat sides of the 

 chisel can not well be used, these are cleaned 

 with the end of the chisel and the corners at 

 the point of the same. In this way, and in a 

 cool day, the supers can be all cleaned in a 



few hours. In cleaning, all that need repair 

 are pMed by themselves, and those which are 

 in good order piled in another pile. And 

 later on those needing repairs can be taken 

 to a warm room for tnis work." 



" That is all plain. After all are cleaned 

 and repaired, what then ? " 



' ' The next thing is to make as many new 

 supers as yovi expect to need, in addition to 

 the old ones, when you are to go to work 

 making your sections, the material for which 

 you should order and have on hand so you 

 can make the sections during the winter 

 months. Having the sections made, the next 

 work will be putting thin comb foundation 

 in them." 



"How much foundation shall I put in each 

 one ? ' ' 



"That depends somewhat on your means 

 for procuring this. My idea is that it pays 

 well to fill every section nearly full, using 

 the extra thin for this purpose." 



" What do you mean by filling wear??/ fullT' 



"Of course, you know that the foundation 

 is fastened at the top of the section to the 

 wood. Thei'e it touches the wood, of course; 

 but after trying many ways I prefer that 

 there be a space of ^^ inch between the foun- 

 dation and either side of the section, and 

 from f inch to ^ inch at the bottom." 



"Why do you not fill the section entirely 

 full?" 



' ' Whenever I have done this the founda- 

 tion would buckle and twist in all conceiv- 

 able shapes while it was being worked by the 

 bees, so that, when finished, we have the 

 most grotesque-appearing honey ever looked 

 at." 



"But what would you do if you concluded 

 not to fill the sections, as you have told me 

 about ? ' ' 



"Then I would use starters of fovmdation 

 unless I had plenty of nice white comb to cut 

 up for starters. ' ' 



"I do not have the comb. How much 

 foundation would you use for each start- 

 er ? " 



"For starters I cut the foundation into 

 strips two inches wide; then I cut off a piece 

 at one end, following the row of cells, this 

 making this piece come to a point at one end 

 and about an inch across the base at the 

 other end. Now turn the knife so it will 

 follow another row of cells angling across 

 your strip, which will give you a triangular 

 piece of about the right size to help the bees 

 best for starting. Turn your knife so it will 

 cut at the same angle as the first cut for the 

 next, when you will have another triangle 

 as before. In this way keep turning till the 

 whole length of the strip is cut up." 



"But doesn't this take lots of time in cut- 

 ting ? ' ' 



"It would if you were to cut only one 

 sheet at a time; but when you have decided 

 on the size you want, then you will pile ten, 

 fifteen, or twenty sheets in a pile and cut all 

 at once, so very little time is consumed in 

 this part of the matter." 



"Thank you. But how ai'e these starters 

 put on the sections ? " 



