82 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



knife or wire, so as to fill tlie cavity. Then, finally, put 

 on the glass lids. 



If we have not white empty combs enough to half- fill or 

 quarter-fill a super of glass, a guide-comb is sealed to the 

 wooden lid, and a ladder is given to the bees to go up and 

 commence building at the top. Bees can hold by rough 

 wood and straw, but not by glass; hence the use of wooden 

 lids and ladders. When the combs reach the sides of the 

 glass, the wooden lids may be cut ofi', and the glass ones 

 restored to their places. 



With this art of supering unfolded before the reader, 

 he will be able to help his bees to fill supers of any size, 

 and almost in any season. All the honey of refuse combs 

 and old hives may be given to bees when they are filling 

 supers. The filters of bees are so perfect, that not a speck 

 of impurity or a taint of pollen is carried from old combs 

 into supers. Even honey mixed with flour, soU, or bee- 

 bread, is well clarified when given to bees. All apiarians 

 who prefer to eat their honey in virgin-comb may thus 

 have a superabundant supply of it. The introduction of 

 large pieces of unsoUed ^combs into supers (and feeding 

 with honey when weather is unfavourable) may be com- 

 pared to travelling by express train. The other way, of 

 letting the bees do all the work, is travelling by the 

 parliamentary one, which is longer on the road. We 

 much prefer the speedier way of filling supers. 



Let us here press on the attention of the reader the 

 necessity of covering glass supers warmly and thickly 

 with some material If they are not warmly covered, the 

 bees will not work in them ; and if not kept quite dark, 

 the bees wHL try to shut out the light by bespattering 

 wax on the inside of the glass. 



There should be no doors in supers. All bees from the 

 outside world should go in by the doors of the hives. If 

 outside workers were permitted to go into supers with 



