6 
will often damage the flavor of the honey. The bees will also make holes in 
the cappings when disturbed by smoke. 
Bulk comb-honey is usually packed in 5 and 10-pound friction-top tin 
buckets. The comb is cut from the frames and that which is well filled is cut 
to fit the bucket. Any remaining small pieces, or pieces in which the filling is 
not satisfactory, may be pressed and the honey is used to fill spaces between 
combs in the buckets. Should but a small part of the comb be well filled, the 
honey should be removed by the extractor. If the extracted honey has a 
tendency to granulate, it may be heated and poured over the combs as warm 
as possible without damaging the combs. 
PUTTING ON THE SUPERS. 
Many beekeepers are not getting a full crop of honey because they do not 
furnish enough room in such a way as to permit the bees to store the greatest 
crop. The time and manner of placing the supers on the hive are governed by 
conditions of honey-flow, and therefore no dates can be given. Bach beekeeper 
must observe the plants which produce nectar, and their blooming season in his 
own locality. A discussion of the manipulation of supers is given in Farmers’ 
Bulletin No. 503*, and a copy of this bulletin may be obtained by addressing 
the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
The plan in brief is to add the first super when the surplus honey-flow begins, 
and to place each super after the first one below the others, provided the 
honey-flow is expected to continue. If there is any doubt about the continu- 
ance of the honey-flow, the added super is placed on top. 
The time for adding another super will be determined by the strength of the 
colony, the condition of honey-flow and the probability of a continuance of the 
flow. If the colony is strong, and if the honey-flow is heavy and can reason- 
ably be expected to continue, the second super is placed below the first when 
work in the first is well under way. If the strength of colony or honey-flow is 
less favorable, the second super should not be added until more work has been 
done in the first. In like manner the third and any subsequent supers are 
added. Supers should always be added fast enough to give the bees ample 
room for the storage of honey without crowding. On the other hand, they 
should not be added in such numbers or in such a manner that many combs 
will not be well filled. It should never be assumed that the bees can fill only 
a certain number of supers, but, by giving close attention during the honey- 
flow, the bees should be given all the supers they can use advantageously. 
Three will often be not enough. 
UNITING. 
Sometimes through excessive swarming or loss of the queen, a colony be- 
comes so weak in numbers by fall that it cannot survive the winter unless 
united with another colony. This is done by removing the cover from the 
stronger colony, after which a sheet of newspaper is spread over the hive and 
the hive containing the weak colony is lifted from its bottom-board and is 
placed over the stronger with the newspaper between. In a short time the 
bees will remove the paper and become one colony without disturbance. 
In uniting, when one colony is queenless, move it to the queen-right one. 
If both have queens, and there is no choice, the queens may be disregarded. 
Should one queen be considered the better, kill the poorer one and move that 
colony to the queen-right one. When queenless colonies are found in early 
spring, uniting will be found to give better results than the purchase of 
queens, unless the surplus honey-flow comes late in the season. 
*Demuth, Geo. S., 1912. Comb Honey. Farmers’ Bulletin No. 503, Bur. of 
Ent., U. S. Dept. of Agric., 47 pp., 20 figs. 
