HARVESTING. 463 



some varieties of heather or the mountain sage, will furnish, 

 in dry weather, honey that is ripe almost as soon as gathered. 



yGS. As some colonies do not begin work in the supers 

 until very late, and do not fill all the space given them, the 

 surplus of other colonies can be given them in such a manner 

 that all will be equally filled. This can be done without brush- 

 ing the bees off (485). 



The equalizing of empty . combs in the surplus stories of 

 different colonies, towards the end of the crop, will save time 

 in extracting, as the supers will be found more evenly full. 

 The giving of a few combs of honey to a colony that has 

 not yet begun work in the supers also acts as an inducement, 

 and gives the bees new energy. 



HARVESTING. 



'766. The extracting, to be done swiftly, requires the work 

 of four persons : three men and a boy. This work is done 

 at a time when the bees have ceased to harvest honey, and 

 the greatest care has to be exercised not to leave any honey 

 within the reach of robber bees. The work of opening the 

 hives, removing the combs and brushing off the bees, must be 

 done quietly, but swiftly and carefully. The receptacles for 

 combs should each have a cover, and the hive should be closed 

 and its entrance reduced, as promptly as possible. In this 

 way, there is not the least danger of robbing; but if robbing 

 is once begun, by some carelessness or forgetfulness of the 

 operator, the work has to be 'Stopped until it has subsided. 



767. The utensils needed for neat extracting on a large 

 scale are: In the apiary— a good smoker (382), one or two 

 brushes made of asparagus tops, or some other light fibrous 

 material, a wood chisel to loosen the cases, two tin pans, 

 described farther on (770), one comb bucket, and two strong 

 "robber cloths.'' 



768. The "robber cloths," so named by Dr. C. C. Miller, 



