1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



849 



swarmed, out of 84 worked for comb honey. 

 last season. All were worked in two sec- 

 tions of the hive until swarming time; then 

 those that swarmed were hived on the old 

 stand, the old stock being left beside the new 

 swarm foj about a week, when they were 

 moved to a new location and their Hying 

 bees allowed to return and go in with the 

 new swarm. This is the Heddon plan of 

 preventing after-swarms. The new swarms 

 are hived on one section of the hive, which 

 is hve Langstroth-frame capacity, and in 

 very hot weather an empty section of the 

 hive is given under this section for the bees 

 to cluster in; this is to prevent the bees from 

 swarming out, and is removed in about three 

 days, or as soon as the swarm is thoroughly 

 established. 



This hiving on a contracted brood-nest 

 forces the bees into the supei"s. These supers 

 are removed from the old colony to the new 

 hive, before the swarm was hived, for we do 

 not like to disturb a new swarm until about 

 three days after hiving, as the bees are liable 

 to swarm out if disturbed. 



If in need of extra queens, or inci'ease, 

 these old colonies are broken into, for each 

 half will have a good queen-cell. Usually, 

 each half will have a cell which you can see 

 without removing a frame; but it sometimes 

 happens that the cells are all in one section 

 of the hive, and in that case a frame is re- 

 moved that has a good cell or two on it, and 

 given to the half that has none. 



GIVING EMPTY SUPERS; CENTER BAIT-COMBS 

 VS. SIDE EXTRACTING-COMBS. 



The second super can be given when the 

 first is about half full, and should be placed 

 over the first one. Then when the second 

 super is i to i full, raise up the first one, and 

 place the second one under it. This plan 

 works nicely, and is the one we usually fol- 

 low. But the old plan of lifting up the part- 

 ly filled sviper, and placing the empty one 

 under it also works well with the super ar- 

 ranged with the two extracting combs at the 

 sides. 



Some, being accustomed to using a bait- 

 section in the center of the super, will be 

 tempted to try one comb in that position. 

 In this case, much of the value of the system 

 will be lost; i. e., with that plan, the bees 

 will start in the center and finish the outside 

 last. While the comb in the center starts 

 the bees in the supers, it is much better to 

 start them first in that part of the super that 

 is usually the very last to be finished — the 

 outside. It might seem to one who always 



E laced baits in the center that the bees would 

 esitate about entering the super in which 

 the baits are clear to the sides: but the fact 

 is that they enter just about the same, wheth- 

 er the bait be in the center or at the sides. 



If I were producing exhibition honey I 

 would never raise a super to put empty ones 

 umlerneath, but would place them over the 

 partly filled ones. This gets the sections bet- 

 ter filled and better capped. A combination 

 comb and extracted super is an ideal one for 

 this purpose, as the bees do not hesitate 

 about working in the sections. This free 



and energetic work in the super is very es- 

 sential to the production of fine honey. But 

 for market the better way is to raise the first 

 super after it is well staited on top and place 

 the empty one under it. When the season is 

 two-thirds over, be very careful to give no 

 more sections than the bees will be able to 

 finish up and seal. The last supers given 

 should never be placed below the partly fill- 

 ed ones, for at the last of the season, when 

 the honey-rtow is getting more scant every 

 day, these last few sections would be finish- 

 ed and capped thin: such light weights are 

 very unsatisfactory. Therefore, put the last 

 super on top, and give only what the bees 

 can finish. Any more room that might l)e 

 necessary could be provided by giving a very 

 few extractmg combs. These, too, must be 

 placed on top. Usually, instead of giving 

 extracting-combs to the colonies that have 

 sections to finish, the better way is to group 

 the sections together on a few'colonies to be 

 finished — care being taken to select colonies 

 that are woi'king freely. 



I^xtracting-combs are given to the colonies 

 having no section work to do. In this way 

 all are kept busy, and we have but few un- 

 finished sections left at the close of the sea- 

 son. 



FEEDING BACK UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



Speaking of unfinished sections reminds 

 me that we have but little use for them; the 

 wood is soiled at best; then the honey never 

 looks quite as good as from brand-new sec- 

 tions. By "feeding back," and getting a few 

 supers finished, ,we had less than a super of 

 unfinished sections left from the crop of 1906, 

 of 2300 lbs. 



A kink in feeding back is to uncap that 

 part of the section that is capped, and give 

 the bees an opportunity to lengthen out all 

 the cells to the same length and cap it all 

 over new. When treated in this way the 

 product can hardly be told from that just 

 brought in from the field, and it is quite dif- 

 ferent from that fed as it came from the 

 hive, with one end of the section capped 

 thin and travel-stained finish while the other 

 end is thick, with a brand-new capping. 



This fed-back honey is cased up hj itself 

 and put into a -cari'ler, and is shipped to 

 market with the first order. Handling it in 

 this way, we have never had any complaint 

 of its candying before it was disposed of. 



THE FINISHING-UP OF THE SEASON. 



The last ten days of the honey-flow is a 

 busy time with the successful comb-honey 

 producer; for a man can find good profitable 

 work in shifting supers here and there, to 

 get them all finished before the close of the 

 season. 



The bee-escapes are kept busy during this 

 period, for any supers that have a few fin- 

 ished sections should be removed, since the 

 work will progress more slowly as the sea- 

 sou draws to a close, and such sections will 

 be travel-stained soon if not removed. Then 

 we want to get our partly filled sections 

 grouped together on those colonies that are 

 doing good work, and this is the best way to 

 do it. 



