150 PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEY 



age was only secured after nearly half a century of study of the 

 principles of bee-keeping as applied to a particular locality. 

 True, conditions were exceptionally favorable and such an oppor- 

 tunity would only come once in years, but few bee-keepers would 

 be so well prepared^when it did come, or fully understand how to 

 make the most of the favorable condition. 



Prepare in Advance. — One great secret of success is in having 

 everything in readiness when the flow begins — to have one's dish 

 right side up when it rains honey. The winter months can be 

 utilized to prepare a suificient nvimber of supers to care for any 

 crop. The failure to provide supers in advance is common and 

 one that costs the bee-keepers of the country thousands of tons 

 of honey every good season. The bigger the harvest and the more 

 urgent the need of extra room the less time there will be to pre- 

 pare supers. Dr. Miller's advice is to have enough supers ahead 

 to hold the biggest crop ever harvested in the locality and one 

 extra super for each hive. After his big yield in 1913 he has 

 not been heard to say how many that would take in his locality 

 but prior to that time he estimated that at least seven supers 

 for each hive should be ready to be safe (Fig. 67). 



The fact that such a large number of supers will be left over 

 from year to year leads most bee-keepers to neglect this precau- 

 tion. If properly cared for they will not be injured even though 

 not used for several years, and when the big yield does come 

 they will be worth many times the cost. 



Putting on the Supers. — Supers should not be put on every 

 colony in a hit-and-miss manner whether they need room or not. 

 Weak colonies that are not ready for storage room for surplus 

 will be needlessly taxed to warm this extra space on cool nights 

 and be further delayed in building up. Extra strong colonies 

 will be ready for extra space before the average colonies, and 

 the average colonies in turn will be ready some time in advance 

 of the weak ones. There is no advantage in putting on supers 

 when no honey is coming in, even though the colonies be strong. 

 In most well-regulated apiaries one colony is kept on scales in 



