THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



combs are far the best for rapid uncap- 

 ping and handling. Mowing the grass 

 completed the work done at this visit. 



On July 1 1th we loaded our extracting 

 outfit on the wagon, and on arriving at 

 the yard, we set up the tent, described in 

 a previous number of the Review, hired a 

 man and a boy, and began work. 1 

 brought in the combs on a Daisy spring 

 wheel-barrow, sometimes also ^ doing a 

 little uncapping. Herman C. uncapped 

 and filled cans, and Scott R. turned the 

 crank. 



EXTRACTING OUTSIDE COMBS IN THE 

 BROOD-NEST. 



In many colonies 1 found the outside 

 combs in the brood-nest full of honey; 

 these were removed and extracted, the 

 brood spread, and full sheets of founda- 

 tion put in their places. This would be a 

 ruinous procedure if no second crop were 

 expected, or no continuation of the flow, 

 but we usually get a second crop; and 

 this plan gives more bees for that crop, 

 if it continues as long as usual, enough to 

 pay very well indeed for the extra labor 

 required. 



In this connection I have often wondered 

 how some specialists manage to put in 

 their time, handling brood-combs so little 

 as they do. Here, we musi handle combs 

 to a considerable extent, running eight or 

 more yards, with anything like complete 

 swarm-control. If we could control 

 swarming without manipulation, we would 

 need far more bees to keep us busy. Two 

 of us did nearly all the field work with 

 over 700 colonies this summer, harvesting 

 a total crop of over 36.000 pounds. 



DOUBLE BRUSHING OF COMBS. 



One valuable thing that I learned, 

 through the American Bee-Keeper, from 

 0. 0. Poppleton — while I brush one side 

 of a comb a boy brushes the other side so 

 the bees have no chance to run from one 

 side to the other, and the work is done 

 much quicker than by the one-brush 

 plan. 



HAULING 6,000 POUNDS OF HONEY AT 

 ONE LOAD. 



At this extracting we took over 6,000 

 pounds. A freighter was hired to haul . 

 the honey to Meridian. His big freight 

 wagon had strips of 2x4, about 1 8 

 inches long, spiked to its sides, inside, on 

 end, resting on the bottom of the wagon- 

 box. There were three pairs of these 

 uprights, one pair at each end, and one 

 pair in the middle. Perhaps five inches of 

 loose hay was then put in the wagon-box, 

 then a deck of inch boards cleated to- 

 gether, resting on the hay. On this deck, 

 with the springy hay under it, the five- 

 gallon cans of honey were placed, four 

 cans exactly filling the box, in width. 

 After the box was filled with the one tier 

 of cans, pieces of 2 x 4 were put across 

 the box, resting on the ends of the up- 

 right pieces of 2x4, and then spiked to 

 them. Next we took four, 2 x 8's, as long 

 as the wagon-box, and tacked them in 

 place on the cross-pieces of 2 x 4, leaving 

 about 1>4 inches between them. These 

 2x8"s formed an upper deck, supported 

 only at the ends and in the middle. On 

 this upper deck the remainder of the cans 

 of honey were placed in such a way as to 

 have most of the weight come between 

 the supporting cross-pieces, short rows of 

 cans on each plank, between supports, 

 giving plenty of spring to insure safe 

 carrying over 36 miles of fair to bad 

 roads. The entire 6,000 pounds were 

 hauled at the one four-horse load, and 

 arrived at home without mishap. 



On July 30th we again found ourselves 

 at the distant yard, as a friend had 

 written to us thac the flow had continued, 

 and our bees might need room. Swarm- 

 ing was now over, and the supers again 

 fairly well filled. A few more colonies 

 were made, from the Alexander mating 

 mating piles, and tha extra queens used 

 as needed. 



We set up the tent, and with the same 

 help we extracted aga'n, getting a little 

 over 5,200 pounds. This 5,200 pounds 

 was freighted to Meridian the same as 

 the 6,000 pounds first extracted. 



