316 Beekeeping 



colony to give it more room. The proper order of the 

 supers on the hive is shown in Fig. 136, it being assumed 

 in this case that super 5 is the one which is used near the 

 end of the flow. It will be noticed in the case of supers 

 1, 2 and 3, that after being placed just above the brood- 

 chamber to be started, they are then put on the top in the 

 next move. This carries up the wax-building bees where 

 they are as far from the brood-chamber as possible and this 

 is perhaps an important factor in swarm prevention. 



Removal of supers. 



Comb-honey intended for market should be removed as 

 soon as possible after it is finished to prevent discoloration 

 of the cappings, known as "travel stain." The extensive 

 beekeeper does not have time to remove the sections in- 

 dividually but should give additional room just rapidly 

 enough to make it possible to complete all the sections in a 

 super about the same time. After the super is removed 

 there are often some that are not completed and these may 

 be sorted out in the shop and the unfinished ones may be 

 put in supers and given to colonies. C. C. Miller believes 

 that some colonies are better at this finishing work than 

 others and so he chooses certain ones for this work. Dur- 

 ing the finishing, bees should be crowded to insure its being 

 completed before the honey-flow ceases. 



At the close of the honey-flow, the surplus space should 

 be reduced and all supers in which no work has been done 

 should be removed. As soon as practical, the surplus 

 space should be reduced to one super but there should 

 always be room for the ripening of new nectar. If desired, 

 extracting combs may be used to receive the honey at the 

 close of the honey-flow. 



Caring for the crop. 



In a heavy honey-flow most of the honey is removed 

 before the flow ceases. In this case the bees are readily 

 removed by smoking and brushing them out. At the close 



