52 MONEY IN BEES IN AUSTRALASIA 



tea-tree, or even a handful of grass tied together may- 

 be pressed into service as a bee-brusli. Where the number 

 of colonies is limited to three or four, a small tin box 

 (holding five frames of comb) called a comb-carrier is 

 convenient to hold the honey as it is removed from the 

 hives. Where the combs of a large bee-farm are to be 

 extracted, the tin box is manifestly inadequate. 



A tank, or box, on a wheel-barrow (See Fig. 27) will 

 be required. One or two apiarists have tram lines 

 traversing the apiary, and trucks containing a number 

 of slides suitable for holding the frames are used for 

 carrying the full combs to the extractor. The most 

 popular way of working is with a wheel-barrow and a 

 suitable box. Many bee-farmers take off the entire super, 

 stand it in front of the hive for the bees to crawl back, 

 and load up the barrow. Of course the combs may be 

 taken from the hive per medium of the Bee-escape (See 

 Fig. 10, also "Comb-honey"), but to be effective, the 

 escape must be put on the hive overnight to give the bees 

 time to go down out of the super. If by any chance there 

 should be brood in the super-combs the bees will not leave, 

 and the labour of placing the escapes is of no value. 



In practical work on a bee-farm, it is almost the rule 

 to find brood in the supers (at least on those bee-farms 

 that permit the queen to range over the entire comb-face). 

 Apiarists using Bolton hives, lift off the shallow super 

 and dump it on the ground until all the bees are jarred 

 out. The chief objection to this style is the damage to 

 combs and frames. It is nevertheless a rapid way of 

 taking off honey. 



BAREOW TANK. 



Fig. 27 represents one method of working with a 

 barrow and a galvanised iron tank 36 inches long by 20 

 inches wide by 12 inches deep. Two strap irons are 

 passed under the tank. On the inside, V2 an inch from 

 the top, two pieces of wood 36 inches by 3 inches by 1 

 inch are bolted to the irons to form a rabbet on which 

 the frames rest. A small gate should be soldered near the 



