THE BEE-KEEPERS REVIEW 



145 



second story, when it was full, or, more 

 correctly speaking, when this second 

 story was, say, two-thirds full, and place 

 the empty story under, or between the 

 brood nest and the partly full upper 

 story. In this way of managing we used 

 to get brood all through our hives; for we 

 kept up this lifting- as long- as our honey 

 season lasted; or. more often, until our 

 stock of extracting- combs was exhausted; 

 for. at that time, we were not taught the 

 value of leaving- our honey on the hive 

 clear through the season, until it was 

 thoroughly cured, and ripened by the 

 bees. My ! what a tiine we used to have 

 trying- to extract those combs of honey 

 and brood: many times there was more 

 brood than honey. The extracting house 

 was not a fit place for company those 

 days. 



Some s-jch experiences as this, caused 

 me to buy wood-zinc honey-boards for 

 one yard. Then, later, we bought more 

 for an other; so we have, and still use. 

 excluders on two yards. Then, after a 

 few years, we began to notice that our 

 yards with excluders, were swarming 

 more than yards without excluders. About 

 every third year, or so. we would have 

 excessive swarming over these excluders, 

 and there would be much less swarming 

 where no excluders vv^ere used. 



There is a way to handle them and pre- 

 vent much of any swarming, and that is 

 to lift brood from the brood nest into the 

 upper story, but this necessitates finding 

 the queen, or shaking the bees off the 

 combs, and either one is expensive, in-as- 

 much as it costs experienced labor. What 

 we want for extensive bee-keeping, is a 

 system that requires no handling of the 

 brood-nest, in normal colonies. 



Experienced bee-keepers are aware 

 that the spring months of April and May 

 are the main breeding season with bees; 

 especially with the yellow races, breeding 

 comparatively stops when the honey sea- 

 son opens in earnest. Probably there is 

 not more than one-third as much brood 

 in June, after the honey flow is on, as 

 there was in April and May. Taking ad- 



vantage of this fact, we so manipulate 

 our upper stories as to have practically 

 no brood in them at extracting time, and 

 that without the use of excluders. 



PRODUCING EXTRACTED HONEY WITHOUT THE 

 USE OF QUEEN EXCLUDERS. 



It will be noticed that, by giving the 

 bees their first upper story two or three 

 weeks before the season opens, there will 

 be lots of brood in it. This is exactly 

 what we want, at this season of the year, 

 but the problem that confronts us, after 

 getting it. is how to get rid of it after it 

 has fulfilled its mission of preventing 

 swarming. The plan is this: We put sub- 

 sequent upper stories on top; and the 

 queen, having all she can attend to in the 

 two lower stories, rarely ever ventures 

 into the third story. Now we will sup- 

 pose that these two upper stories, holding 

 100 pounds when full, are all the colony 

 needs; the problem is all solved, provided 

 we do not do any extracting until after 

 the season closes, along the last half of 

 July, for. by that time, the brood will be 

 nsarly. if not all. crowded down below, 

 into the brood nest. As much as sixty 

 days have elapsed since the first upper 

 stories were given; time for three genera- 

 tions of brood to have hatched. 



The closing up of the season is of nearly 

 as much importance as with comb honey. 

 A week cr so before we expect our season 

 to close we are very careful about giving 

 too much room. We must produce a fin- 

 isiied product: for we cannot expect to 

 produce a good article of extracted honey, 

 without having it thoroughly cured and the 

 greater part capped over before extracting 

 With a fifty-pound upper story, it is not 

 possible to get every comb sealed clear 

 down to the bottom, but we should bear in 

 mind that the brood-nest will hold quite a 

 quantity of honey at this time, and it is a 

 very good plan to let the bees have a 

 part of this white honey, to winter on. as 

 a remuneration for faithful services. 



To sum up this subject, the whole se- 

 cret of producing a superior article of ex- 

 tracted honey, is to have the extracting 

 combs free from brood at extracting time 



