112 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



that when the sheet is bent up against it, it hangs in the 

 centre of the frame. If the iron rubber be dipped in 

 honey or starch it will not stick to the wax in rubbing. 



When a sheet or strip of this impressed wax is pro- 

 perly fixed to the bar, it is certain to be the guide and 

 foundation of a straight comb. It is not necessary, 

 although advantageous, that the sheet should be, when 

 fixed, the whole perpendicular height of the comb ; 

 unless we desire a particular sized cell ; given a fair start 

 of 3 or 4 inches, the Bees will continue in the same line 

 to the bottom of the frame. For supers, 2 or 3 inches 

 will be found sufficient, and will dispense with the 

 necessity of fixing natural decoy combs. To wax 

 sheets the Scotch Apiarians owe the remarkable and 

 beautiful regularity of their show supers in Stewarton 

 boxes. 



■SUPERS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



Supers are receptacles intended to be placed on the 

 top of the hive, for the Bees to store their surplus honey 

 in, and in a great measure to prevent the necessity of 

 swarming. 



The quantity and quality of the honey obtained in 

 his supers shows the skill of the Bee-master. Nothing 

 looks cleaner, or could be handsomer as a breakfast-table 

 ornament, than a bright bell-glass, on an appropriate 

 stand, well filled with luscious golden honey. At the 

 Manchester Exhibition of 1873, a glass model of the 

 Crystal Palace appeared filled with 85 pounds of comb 

 and honey ; and in 1863, that veteran Bee-master, Mr. 

 George Fox, of Kingsbridge, Devonshire, obtained from 



