PREPARING FOR THE HARVEST 



181 



where. Drone combs are not especially objectionable in extract- 

 ing supers, as long as the queen does not have access to them. 

 The productive bee-keeper, however, should avoid having them 

 built in the first place, as they should never be permitted in the 

 brood chamber, and, unless excluders are used, the queen will 

 sometimes be laying in the extracting supers. It is highly desir- 

 able that every comb be so perfect that it can be used in any 

 part of the hive for any purpose needed. 



Aside from the necessity of avoiding the drone comb, it is 



possible to get so much better combs by the use of foundation, and 

 to have them built so much more rapidly, that it is economy to 

 use full sheets anyway. It is very annoying to have crooked 

 combs to deal with, and perfect combs cannot always be secured 

 without the use of foundation (Fig. 91). 



For extracting purposes, it is important, also, that the combs 

 be built in wired frames (Fig. 92). It makes little difference 

 to the comb honey producer whether his combs are wired or not 

 after they are once built, because they are not subject to much 

 strain. In the extractor, unwired combs are likely to be badly 

 broken or ruined altogether. Fig. 93 shows a full sheet of 

 foundation ready for the bees. Four horizontal wires are used 



