ACVANCBD BEE-CUlvTuR^. 



59 



tinually strengthening the colonies upon 

 which I am feeding back. 



It is folly to expect the bees to finish up 

 all of the sections upon a hive. Even 

 though the feeding be continued, the 

 sections will not all be completed in a 

 satisfactory manner. So long as the 

 feeding is continued the bees seem to 

 reason something like this: "We must 

 make the cells as deep as possible, and 

 delay the capping to the last moment, in 

 order to make room for all of the honey 

 that we can; and, if there are not cells 

 enough, we must build more, even if it 

 be in the little cramped up places between 

 the tiers of sections." After the combs 

 are drawn out to full length, filled with 

 honey, and nearly sealed, I have secured 

 better results by giving the bees no feed 

 for three or four days; then giving them 

 alight feed, and omitting the feeding for 

 several days. The bees then behave as 

 though they considered the harvest was 

 over and ended. They seal up most of the 

 cells, and from those that they do not 

 seal they remove the honey. But there 

 is a much better way of managing the 

 business. When the sections are all 

 nearly finished, I put them upon as few 

 hives as possible, placing two cases upon 

 a hive, and then upon each hive, above 

 the two cases of nearly completed sec- 

 tions, I place a case of sections filled with 

 foundation. The bees proceed at once to 

 draw out the foundation and fill it with 

 honey, and this additional storing room 

 appears to bring about a feeling that 

 there is no further necessity for holding 

 open the cells below, and they are sealed 

 forthwith. 



When the two lower cases are comple- 

 ted, the upper case (that was furnished 

 with foandation) will, perhaps, be found 

 to contain sections one-half comple- 

 ted, and these upper cases may be 

 gathered together, bees and all, and 

 placed, two upon each hive, over those 

 colonies that have shown the great- 

 est apitudefor this kind of work, and the 

 feeding continued until the sections are 

 almost completed, when it will again be 



necessary to place a case of sections con- 

 taining foundation upon each hive. I 

 have continued this until, at last, all of 

 the sections were on one hive, and had 

 all the sections completed except those 

 in the case last added at the top. 



After bees have been fed awhile, they 

 secrete large quantities of wax. The lit- 

 tle flakes of it can be seen between the 

 scales of the abdomen, and, unless al- 

 lowed to build comb, the bees will plas- 

 ter with wax the woodwork of the sec- 

 tions, the inside of the feeders, cases, etc. 

 The moral is, allow them to build comb. 

 Have a row or two of sections in the 

 upper case filled with starters, only; thus 

 there is secured, in the shape of comb, 

 what would otherwise be wasted. 



Although we cannot control the tem- 

 perature, it may be well to know that the 

 hotter the weather the more rapid and 

 satisfactory will be the work of the bees 

 when we are feeding back. 



If there is any time when separators are 

 needed, it is in feeding back. If the 

 combs, both finished and unfinished, 

 could be left undisturbed upon the hives, 

 and the bees fed until all the combs were 

 finished, feeding back would be no reason 

 why separators should be employed, but 

 when the unfinished combs are put back 

 in the cases, a great deal of judgment aod 

 patience aie needed, unless separators 

 are to be used. Bees usually have about 

 a ^ space between finished combs, and 

 in putting back the unfinished combs, 

 this fact should be kept in mind. When 

 the space is less than this, no harm is 

 done unless it is so small that a bee can't 

 pass through, when the bees will connect 

 the two surfaces by little bridges of wax, 

 and when the sections are taken apart, 

 these little connecting bridges will pull 

 pieces out from one comb or the other. 

 When the space is much greater than ^, 

 and the comb upon each side is sealed, 

 the bees, especially if crowded, will con- 

 struct comb upon the sealed surface of 

 the other comb, which gives it a very 

 botched appearance. If the comb at one 

 side of the space is sealed, and the other 



