38 



,.la„ ,. t„ run a 1„ f nu.lt,.,l .'ax along tl,. ..Ige „f the .tarter while >l i. in contact 



with the w 1. Ilnl.l the stavter w.th the fingers of the left han.l, .au. the wax w,th 



a teas|„„,n hehl ,n the Mght hand. The innst eeiiain way is to make a special ,],g for 

 the ,ol,. Fnst, ont o: ;aneh «-ood ,a,t pieces ;^v nu-hes square ; ahout a ,lozen w,ll be 

 „„„h Then na,l these an inch apart on a hoard. No.v you can bang the folded 



eiio 



sections,.) these. n,,s,ded.,«n.pla,a- the starters ,n position, then run the wax ahrng 

 theed.'e \ slrdit haekw.ard tilt to the hoard IS an advantage. The wax will .set 

 Tery ipiiekly, la,t it takes a, little Hhile for it lo harden, so handle each seetion earettdly 

 while setting it aside. 



KxTK-U'TINi: CoMr.s, 



Extracted honey is luoiluced in ordinary eoinhs, just the kind used in the brood- 

 el, aniher. While new they are ratlier tender, therefore many "iU ""t use a eomh for 

 extracting purposes until it has been hied in at least one sca.son. The cohutr .,f the 

 eouih ill no way allcets the colour of the lioncy. To get tir.st-class combs they must be 

 built during tiic honey-HoH-. 'I'lie tr.ime Hllcd with fuundation is jjlaeed between two 

 ohl comhs. either in I he hrood-chaniher t>i super. We have alreaily seen that .spare 

 sets of einpt\- cmnli are of great value in May, when they come in very handy to give 

 the ipicLui more room. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Securing the Harvest. 



Everything needed for the honey -tlow in .June should be got ready in May, at the 

 latest. When a .swarm is clustering on the limh of a tree is not the time to rush to 

 town for the needed hive, yet such has happened many times in the history of bee- 

 keeping. It is just a.s bad to put otf the making ready of supers until the honey-flow 

 is on. One cannot turn the mill with the water that has gone, neither can the bees 

 gather the nectar that was in the blossoms yesterdav, I mt which they could not store 

 away on aec,ittnt of the lack of rorun in fiie lii\"e. kjesides, they ha\'e learned to loaf 

 and to think of swarming, both l>ad haliils from the bee-keeper's point of view. 



So l>e jirepared for ^\diatever m.ay ciuue, whether a Hood or a failure. If you are 

 running frjr section-honey, have for each hive at least two supers read\', filled with 

 sections, and. in addition, have at least fifty more sections in the lioitse. One famous 

 bee-keeper in an ordinary region says he has tive seetion supers for each hive read}' 

 every .season, even if he hiids them necessary only once in half a dozen years. Once he 

 fotind that nuniher not nearly enough. 



When the flow starts the problem is to get the bees to work in the section supers, 

 for they do not take to it kindly on account of the restrii-tcd passages to which they 

 are unaccustomed ; often they will rather swarm than take possession. When a hive 

 has been so strong that the bees occitpied two hrood-chamliers, they have learned to 

 carry the nectar abo\-c ; so if we remove the upper one— of course, making sure that 

 the (pieen is left behind— then put on the comb super, it is probable the honey will lie 

 stored in the sections. The upper division may be placed above a weak colony to 

 strengtlien it, or the frames of brood distributed where wanted. The Hying liees will 

 return to tlic old hi\'e. 



Bait sec'tions arc often used to ilecoy tlie bees aliove. 'Hie unfinished sections from 

 last season are kept o\er the A\intcr, and at least one is placed in the centre of each 

 super ; more is e\en better. Ihit if the lioiicy-How is not started when the bait sections 

 are given to the ciloiiy, the honey will be removed and used below to feed the brood. 



