i8 BEE-KEEPING IN WAR-TIME 



the workers to pass through but debar the queen, is laid 

 over the top of the frames after the quilts have been removed, 

 the rack is placed over this, and the quilts on top. The 

 bees, finding they have more room, go up, build out the combs, 

 and fill them with honey instead of swarming. When the 

 first rack is about two-thirds full of honey it is lifted up 

 and a second one placed underneath; this is repeated until 

 the honey flow ceases, about the end of July. 



The shallow frame super is used in exactly the sam'e way. 

 The frames are fitted with stout drone base foundation ; this 

 gives the bees an opportunity to exercise their desire to 

 build drone comb in a place where it wiU be harmless; the 

 larger cells also allow the honey to be extracted more easUy 

 than is the case with the smaller worker cells. 



If desired, section racks and shallow frame supers can be 

 used in conjunction on the same hive, instead of devoting.lt 

 to one kind of super only. 



When the combs in the super are filled with honey, and all 

 the cells sealed over, they are removed by means of a bee 

 escape, which is a small metal trap fitted into a board the 

 size of the top of the brood chamber. This is slipped under 

 the super to be removed in the evening ; during the night tlie 

 bees pass through the trap to the chamber below, from which 

 they cannot return, so that the next morning the super can 

 be taken off free from bees. 



In the case of sections they are removed, cleaned, and 

 stored away ready for sale. If it is a shallow frame super, 

 then it is necessary to extract the honey. To do this, the 

 cappings are first cut off from either side with a carving knife, 

 previously heated by dipping it into hot water — a cold 

 knife would tear the combs instead of cutting them. The 

 combs are then placed, two at a time, into the cage of an 

 extractor ; this consists of a large round tin, with a cage so 

 fitted that it can be made to revolve very quickly by turning 

 a handle on the top. When this is done with the combs inside, 

 centrifugal force slings the honey out of the cells on to the 

 side of the extractor, where it drains down to the bottom, and 

 is drawn out by means of a tap into tins or jars through 

 muslin to strain it. When one side of the combs has been 

 extracted, they are lifted out, turned round, replaced, and 

 the other side treated in the same manner. 

 _ The combs are then returned to the bees ; they repair what 

 little damage has been done and again fill them with honey. 



