FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 147 



GUESSING ABOUT MORE SUPER EOOM. 



On the whole, there is a mixture of judgment and guess- 

 work as to putting on any super after the first. Perhaps the 

 nearest to a general rule in the matter is to give a second super 

 when the first is half filled. If, however, honey seems to be 

 coming in slowly, or if the colony is not strong, and the bees 

 seem to have plenty of room in the super, no second super is 

 given, although the one already there may be' nearly filled with 

 honey. On the other hand, if honey seems to be coming with 

 a rush, and the bees seem crowded for room, a second super may 

 be given although there is very little honey in the first. These 

 same conditions continued, a third super may be given when the 

 second is only fairly started and the first iiot half full, and 

 before the first super is ready to take off there may be four or 

 five supers on the hive. '; 



RISKING IN,_ GOOD SEASON. 



In the year 1897 — a rendarkably prosperous year — there 

 were on the hives in the Wilson apiary an average of four 

 supers to each colony, some colonies with less than four and 

 some with more, before a single super was filled. As I would lie 

 at night thinking it over, I would say to myself, " What if there 

 should come one of those sudden stops to the flow that some- 

 times occur, and you should be caught with those tons of honey 

 with scarcely any sections finished in the lot? Wouldn't you 

 wish you had gone a little slower, and had the bees finish up 

 what they had, rather than coax them to spread over more 

 territory? " And then the cold chills would run up and down 

 my back. But the sudden stop didn't come, and the crop was 

 finished in good style. The supers were all well filled with bees, 

 and although I took some chances as to unfinished work, I feel 

 pretty sure that if I had allowed less room it would have been 

 at a loss. But that was a very exceptional case. 



Usually, in a fair season, when the harvest is in full blast 

 and fairly along, there will be 3, 4, or more supers upon each 

 hive, at one time, and in an extra season there may be a few 

 hives having seven, or even eight, supers each. That does not 

 mean, by any means, that all of them will be finished, for very 



