COMB HONEY—HONEY FLOW AND HARVEST.—Chapter XIV. 
plan for the beginner, provided he is able to obtain a few sections of 
drawn comb from a neighboring beekeeper, is to place such sections of 
drawn combs (bait sections) in the center or at the sides of the supers. If 
he cannot get sections of drawn comb to use for bait, he may, perhaps, be 
able to get shallow frames of comb to use in this way. Most comb-honey 
producers do not use a queen-excluder, since the queen does not often lay 
eggs in the sections; but, if any of these bait sections contain drone comb 
instead of worker comb, the queen often lays in these drone-cells. ‘This 
can be avoided by using full sheets of foundation in the sections (as always 
should be done, anyway) or placing a queen-excluder between the brood- 
chamber and the supers. 
Supering. 
Just when to give the second comb-honey super depends upon the 
strength of the colony and the rapidity of the honey flow. If the bees 
enter the first super promptly and begin working in most of the sections at 
about the same time, the second super should be given within a week if the 
bees continue working well, even though the first super is less than half full. 
If things look favorable 
for a continuation of the As= 7 
honey flow this second su- ra 5 2— 
per should be placed below —=— i= [i 
the first super adjacent to = z= aay) ie 
the brood-chamber. If the =7—> ee =a eras 2 ees 
honey flow is slow or the : 
colony is not strong, so that & Ses Sess be 
the bees begin work in only pow supers should be given to a comb-honey hive. 
a part of the sections in The latest super to be given is placed just above 
the middle of the super ine PEoeds chee ete 
and work outward, it is better to put the new super on top until the bees 
begin to work in it there, when it can be placed below and another empty 
one placed on top, if needed. No comb-honey super should be raised up 
and an empty one placed under it until the bees have drawn out the founda- 
tion and started to build out the cells in every section. Placing the empty 
super under the partly filled one causes the bees to expand their super 
work more rapidly than when it is placed above. This is highly desirable 
when the honey flow is heavy and the colonies are strong; but if the work 
in the supers is expanded too fast, the sections will not be so well filled and 
al the close of the season there will be too many unfinished sections. 
In order to encourage the bees to finish the first super promptly, some 
beekeepers prefer keeping it in position as second super until it is finally 
finished. When more than two supers are given, those which are partly 
filled are each in turn transferred to a new position above the one nearest 
completion, as shown in the accompanying illustrations, thus keeping the 
first super near enough to the brood-chamber to cause the bees to finish it 
promptly if the colony is strong and the honey flow is good. 
Swarming When Producing Comb Honey. 
_ If the colonies be given a second hive-body as soon as strong enough 
to occupy two stories, and then are given two comb-honey supers at the 
66 
