146 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



Having spent this much time telling what was done the 

 previous winter, let us get back to warmer weather. 



GIVING ADDITIONAL SUPERS. 



Understanding now that each colony has had a super given 

 to it about ten days after the very first white-clover blossom hab 

 been seen, or sooner, the further history of this super and its 

 possible successors is a matter that varies so much in different 

 seasons that it is difficult to tell it straight. By the way, you 

 may think that I'm always thrilled with the sight of the first 

 clover blossom. I'm not. Scarcely ever a thrill. The colonies 

 are rarely all of them as strong as I would like for the begin- 

 ning of the harvest, and that first clover blossom is merely a 

 warning that the time for building up for the harvest is becom- 

 ing very short. 



UNCERTAINTY OF SEASONS. 



As to giving additional super room, it is a thing that may 

 or not be. That first clover bloom may have so few successors 

 that there will be no harvest ; or bloom may be abundant with 

 no nectar. So sometimes it happens that after it becomes a 

 clear case that the harvest is a failure, the supers are taken off 

 as innocent of honey as when they were put on. Oftener it 

 happens that the bait-section in each super is filled and sealed 

 and not a cell drawn out in the other sections. From that up, 

 the seasons will vary so that the average number of sections to 

 each colony will be 10, 24, 48, and up to 150 or more, although 

 these latter seasons do not come with any alarming degrees of 

 frequency. 



If one could kn6w in advance just what the season was 

 going to be, one could tell a good deal better what to do in the 

 way of giving additional super room. One may give so mucli 

 room that there will be an undue proportion of unfinished sec- 

 tions at the final taking off, or one jnay leave the bees so crowd- 

 ed for room as to lose part of the crop. I am not likely to make 

 the latter mistake, which I consider a good deal worse than to 

 have too many unfinished -sections. 



