230 DR. miller's 



three or four supers on each hive, and from that up to seven or 

 eight. But in the latter case the top and the bottom super will 

 likely be empty, or nearly so. 



Q. With a full depth extracting-super, would it be any advan- 

 tage to put the colony with the queen above the super with a 

 honey-board between? Would the bees store honey in it at all? I 

 thought perhaps the bees, having to pass through the super to get 

 to the brood-chamber, they might store some honey earlier than 

 otherwise. 



A. Bees prefer to store honey above their brood, and with 

 room above, you could hardly expect them to store below. Yet 

 in a strong flow I have had them store in a story below. But they 

 will not store below so soon as they will above. 



Supers, Removing. — Q. The super is now nearly full. Is it ad- 

 visable to take it off? 



A. It is well to take away sections as often as a complete 

 snperful is ready, although it is hardly best to wait until the cor- 

 ner sections are all sealed, for if you do so the central sections 

 will have their cappings darkened. The unfinished sections may 

 be assembled from different supers into one super and returned 

 to the bees to be finished. 



Q. I run my bees for extracted honey. How can I free the su- 

 pers of bees without having to brush every comb? I do not care 

 to use the Porter bee-escape board if there is any other way. 



A. You could use some other escape, as the Miller tent-escape. 

 It consists of a robber-cloth with a cone of wire-cloth centrally 

 located. The La Reese escape is favored by some. The iSIiller 

 escape is put on top of a pile of supers after they are taken from 

 the hives. 



Q. Is it proper to take off the supers in the fall of the year? 

 (Arkansas.) 



A. In your latitude (36 degrees) it will probably do no harm 

 to leave extracting-supers on the hive over winter. But it will 

 not do to leave section-supers on the hive over winter in any 

 climate, because the comb in the sections will be spoiled. Neither 

 should the sections be left on until tall, unless the honey-flow 

 continues until then. Just as soon as the bees stop storing in 

 the sections they should be taken off. 



Supers, Space Below. — Q. How much space should there be 

 between the brood-frames and supers, or board, if left on? 

 A. About one-fourth inch ; less rather than more. 



Supers, "T." — Q. What is a "T" super? Looking up the cata- 

 logs I find nothing except "T" tins in this line. 



