PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING 7* 



used over and over again, the bees thus being permitted to spend 

 all of their time and energy storing honey which is quite an item 

 especially if the honey flow is a short one as is the case in Montana. 

 The building up of colonies as outlined above applies equally for ex- 

 tracted honey, yet usually honey colonies or those colonies espec- 

 ially prepared for the harvest, are not permitted to swarm and are 

 not driven or shaken. Provided with young and prolific queens 

 these colonies are bred up to overflowing with brood and bees. To 

 prevent swarming half depth stories or even full stories usually only 

 with starters, but sometimes with full sheets of foundation on wire, 

 if the combs are needed, are kept below the brood chambers. As 

 fast as the frames of these stories are filled with comb they are re- 

 moved and empty ones put in their places, fitted with foundation of 

 course. Above the brood chambers is placed a zinc honey board or 

 queen excluder. This is simply a sheet of sine perforated with ob- 

 long holes large enough to permit of the free passage of the w ( rker 

 bees but not of the queen or the drones. These zinc sheets are 

 usually bound with wood giving a bee space on one side and 

 should be placed with this space up as there is normally a bee space 

 above the combs. There are also slatted wood queen excluders 

 which are made of alternate strips of wood and perforated zinc, thus 

 doing away with the, tendency of the full sheets of zinc to sag in the 

 middle. This sagging in the case of the full sheets may be remedied 

 by placing strips across the top bars of the lower story. The lower 

 stories having been extracted and gotten filled with brood the top 

 stories may then be put on and when partially filled a third story 

 may be inserted between the lower and top stories. In the case of 

 very strong colonies it may be advantageous and profitable to put 

 on a fourth story. It is better to do so than to take the honey off 

 before it is well ripened. Unripened honey may not only lose >ts 

 aromja and flavor but may even sour. 



Extracted honey should always be allowed to stand in an open 

 vessel for a day or two thus allowing the scum to rise which should 

 be removed. It may then be drawn off into sixty pound tins or 

 even barrels for shipping or storing purposes. Or if to be : mme- 

 diately marketed smaller cans or jars or bottles may bs filled and 

 labelled. Honey should be graded. To facilitate this it is well to 

 sort the honey when extracting it or to watch the flow from a given 



