1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



777 



super we have found it necessary to use but 

 two super-springs— one at each end. Those 

 who have always depended on "bait" sec- 

 tions to entice the bees into the super, and 

 have placed it in the center of the super, will 

 likely think bees will be slow to enter the su- 

 per when these combs are given at the sides. 

 Usually, however, only one small section is 

 used for a bait comb. Bait sections in an 

 orilinary super can hardly be compared with 

 the full-drawn comb at both sides of the su- 

 per. The latter bring about the condition 

 found more nearly in an extracted-honey su- 

 per than in a comL-honey super, and so the 

 bees enter the super much more readily than 

 they would on a comb- honey super with the 

 bait section only. 



With the "bait " section the bees begin in 

 the center of the super, or in that part of 

 the super where the bait is placed; then their 

 work extends gradually away from this cen- 

 tral location. Many times the progress is so 

 slow toward the outside of the sviper that the 



E. D. TOWNSEND'S super FOR PRODUCING BOTH COMB 

 AND EXTRACTED HONEY; ONE EXTRACTING- 

 FRAME ON EACH SIDE. 



central sections, or those first begun, will 

 be finished and sealed over before the outside 

 ones are hardly commenced. The conse- 

 quence is, that these central sections will be 

 travel-stained long before the outside ones 

 are ready to come off. Here we see the ad- 

 vantage of the section-holder super over the 

 super in which the sections have to be han- 

 dled separately; for with a super that is fin- 

 ished so unevenly as the one bait-section su- 

 per usually is, it is necessary to "shift" the 

 sections from the outside to the center to 

 get the super finished up more nearly at the 

 same time. But this is work, and work costs 

 money. 



With the super arranged as I have describ- 

 ed above, with a good big comb on both 

 sides, every thing is different. The bees rush 

 up just as if it were an extracted-honey su- 

 per, which it is, to a certain extent. With 

 the ten-frame-width super the bees commence 

 at one side on the comb over that pai't of the 



hive that the bees are occupying most. Of 

 course, this is true with the "bait" section 

 super; but in that case the bees commence in 

 the center and then work toward the side of 

 the hive most occupied with bees. But with 

 the full comb at each side of the super the 

 bees commence on one of the combs; and, 

 when this is part full, on the row of sections 

 next the comb. At about this stage they be- 

 gin to work the comb on the other side of the 

 super; and when it is nearly full the beauty 

 of the system begins to show itself, for then 

 the bees begin to work clear across the super. 

 My! how things do boom for a few days! 

 With every section being drawn out at the 

 same time, this means fancy honey, and 

 lots of it, if the season is favoi'able. 



Last summer these com])s seemed to start 

 the bees to work with such a vim that about 

 two-thirds of the colonies forgot to swarm; 

 this, in connection with the management 

 previous to the honey-flow, that I will de- 

 scribe later on, seems to get the bees in 

 (and keep them in) that condition 

 so essential for the best results 

 in the production of honey, wheth- 

 er comb or extracted. 



What I mean by ' ' condition ' ' 

 is this: We may have two colonies 

 of bees of the same strength, with 

 the same amount of brood and 

 the same amount of stores — in 

 fact, two colonies that are so near- 

 ly alike at the approach of the 

 honey season that you can not tell 

 one from the other: yet one of 

 these two may show up at the end 

 of the honey season with 25 lbs. of 

 surplus and the other with 75 lbs. 

 You can not lay this difference 

 to the queen, for they had the 

 same number of bees at the com- 

 mencement of the season, nor can 

 it be laid to the strain of bees, for 

 1 have had the conditions change, 

 so that the colony that did the 

 poorest one season did the best 

 the next. 



The fact of the case, in my es- 

 timation, is that the 25-1 b. colony was out of 

 condition, and I will try to tell you how to 

 keep them in this desirable condition clear 

 through the season. .,, 



HOW TO KEEP THE COLONIES IN PROPER 

 CONDITION TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



The system is as follows: In November the 

 bees are put into clamps with from 25 to 30 

 lbs. of honey for their winter and spring 

 stores. As soon as the frost is out of the 

 ground in spring, usually the first of April 

 in Kalkaska Co., where our coml>honey yard 

 is, they are dug out and wrapped in build- 

 ing-paper for spring protection. There is 

 nothing more done to them until about the 

 20th or the 25th of May. When the indica- 

 tions are thei'e will be fairly good weather, 

 the most of the freezing nights being over, 

 we remove the paper from all the strong 

 and medium colonies, and give them comb 

 room of some kind. Those with very pro 



