GETTING THE BEES INTO THE SUPER 151 



order to ascertain when honey really is being stored and to tell 

 something of the rapidity of the flow. This is a most excellent 

 practice, as the apiarist can tell at once what really is being done. 



A common question from beginners is how to tell when to 

 place the supers on the hive. It is sometimes advised to put 

 them on when the first white clover blossoms appear. This is per- 

 haps as good advice as can be given if a definite time is to be set. 

 However, so much depends upon the condition of the bees as well 

 as weather and other conditions that no definite time can be set. 

 The bee-keeper must come to know when his colonies have filled 

 the brood chamber with brood and bees to the extent that they are 

 ready to occupy the super and also to tell when they are getting 

 something to put in it. ISTo harm will be done in putting supers 

 on strong colonies a few days before they are ready for them. 

 It sometimes happens that some comb honey will be stored in 

 supers by strong colonies from fruit bloom and dandelion, 

 although this is not generally the case. If no supers had been 

 supplied in a case like this there would be nothing left for the 

 bees to do but to swarm. 



Getting the Bees into the Super. — It is vitally important 

 to get the bees to working in the supers as soon as possible to 

 prevent the crowding of the brood chamber. They often hesitate 

 to begin storing in the sections and sometimes will not do so at 

 all without some extra inducement. One of the most common 

 plans is to save all unfinished sections from the previous year to 

 use as bait sections. Only the first super to be placed on the 

 hive will need bait sections, as after the bees are at work in the 

 supers they will occupy others as fast as needed. 



If a sufiicient number of these bait sections are at hand it is 

 well to place one in each corner and one in the middle of the 

 super. One in a corner at each end and one in the center will 

 do very well. If the supply is short one in the center of the super 

 will start them nicely. 



For the purpose of starting the bees in sections it is also a 

 common practice to use a shallow extracting frame at each side 



