128 THE beekeepers' DIRECTORY. 



Possibly, the bees may remove the honey from the sections ; 

 if they do, so much the better. Later in the: season, when 

 there is a good flow of honey, the cases can be replaced again 

 on the best colonies. The advantage of this plan is'this: ■ 

 If a set of sections is left on each hive the combs will be 

 badly discolored by the bees travelling over and clustering 

 upon them. By the way, I hardly think the combs are dis- 

 colored in that way, nor can I explain just what does give the 

 white combs a yellowish cast ; yet it does not seem to me that 

 the bees do it with their feet. When tiered up, as suggested 

 above, but few bees will be in any one of the sections at any 

 time. 



Keeping brood-oombs. 



"We often have quite a quantity of brood-combs filled with 

 new honey, but not all the cells capped. The uncapped 

 honey was likely to sour and the moth liable to attack the 

 combs on account of the pollen in some of the cells. I knew 

 of no better way to preserve them than to put the combs in 

 hives having ho bottoms and tiering them up on strong col- 

 onies, the same as advised to do wi^h the sections, say about 

 three combs high. These combs can be used later on either 

 to feed some of the stocks that have not quite honey enough 

 to winter, or to form new colonies. However used, they 

 must be protected from the moth and the hot weather during 

 dog-days. If the colony is a strong one to which the combs 

 are given, much of the uncapped honey will be capped, though 

 the bees will be in no hurry about doing it. 



Drones— How to get them late in the season. 

 In my queen-rearing experience I have seen times when I 

 would willingly pay one dollar per hundred for some pure Ital- 

 ian drones ; in fact, I am quite sure I have been obliged to pay 

 out more than that sum to obtain them, counting the express 

 bills and car fare I have put out the money for. A good many 

 years ago, when about everybody lost their bees in winter and 

 when there were but few Italian bees in the country, I had but 

 one pure queen and a handful of bees to commence the sea- 

 son's work with. Well, it was up-hill work, but I managed to 

 do a heavy queen business that year, notwithstanding the dis- 

 couraging outlook in the early spring. That was the season 



