58 DR. miller's 



these unfinished sections are massed together and given Ijack to 

 the bees to be finished. At one time, when I used wide frames to 

 hold sections, my practice was to raise a brood-comb from the 

 brood-chamber and put it between two frames of sections in the 

 upper story, so as to induce the bees to begin work promptly. It 

 was very successful in getting the bees to darken the capping of 

 the sections, for they would carry bits of dark old brood-comb 

 across to use on the sections, making them dark before ever the 

 capping was finished. You will probably find that a thin top-bar 

 will help to darken sections, because it allows them to be nearer 

 the brood-combs. On that account a top-bar seven-eighths of an 

 inch thick is desirable. You may also find more trouble with shal- 

 low brood-combs than the deeper ones. 



The above refers to the color of the cappings. The honey itself 

 may have been dark, perhaps honey-dew. There is no known 

 process to change its coloi". As to bleaching the surface, some 

 have reported success by simply exposing it to the light. A south 

 exposure, allowing direct rays of the sun to shine upon the sec- 

 tions will work iiidre rapidls' than a north exposure, but care must 

 be taken with a southern exposure, for in a place too confined, 

 and with sections to6 near the glass, the heat might be so great 

 as to melt the comb. 



Comb Honey, Producing. — Q. Give the best method of working 

 for comb-honey where the principal, and you might say all the 

 honey-flow, comes between May 1 and 15. (Arkansas.) 



A. The onh- special thing in such a case is to do your best to 

 have all colonies strong early enough for the harvest. You will 

 find that early in the season some colonies will be much stronger 

 than others, and that the weaker colonies will be ver^' slow about 

 building up. Suppose you have some colonies with eight frames 

 of brood, some with seven, some with six, some with five, some 

 with four and others weaker still. You can take brood from any 

 colony that has more than five frames, enough to reduce it to five 

 frames of brood. Xow, don't bestow that brood indiscriminately 

 to the weaker colonies, but let the weakest wait till the last. Give 

 a frame to each colony that has only four, and when these are 

 all supplied, then help those that have only three, and so on. If 

 all cannot be brought up in time, let it be the weakest ones that 

 are neglected. 



Comb Honey, Removing. — Q. Do you leave your comb honey 

 all on the hive until the honey season is over, or do you take it 

 off as fast as finished? 



