50 



Texas Department op Agriculture. 



do not more largely devote their attention to it is because it 

 requires more laborious work and preparation, and is less profitable. 

 The bees do not build in the small boxes as readily_ as in the larger 

 frames, and, hence, loss in time and honey is considerable. It is, 

 also, more difSeult to ship safely, on account of its being fragile. 

 The losses from breakage and leakage are great, and the difference 

 in price of this and other kinds of honey is not large enough to pay for 

 the extra trouble and cost of production. So little of it is produced 

 that it is seldom demanded, except in a very small way. 



No matter what style of supers are adopted, at least three or four 

 should be figured for each hive in use, to allow tiering up, as prac- 

 ticed by all experienced beekeepers. This is done, by placing a newly 

 prepared super imder one already on the hive as soon as the first one 

 is about half-filled, or more, and the bees need additional room. A 

 third super may be inserted imderneath the two if more room is 

 needed, and so on, always providing room for the bees next to the brood 

 chamber, where the bees work best. 



MAKE OE BUY HIVES. 



An important question is whether it is cheaper to make the hives 

 and supplies than to buy them "in the flat," the pieces cut ready to 

 put together. Unless one is skilled in the use of tools, the inaccuracies 

 in the spacing of the fixtures in home-made hives will often lead to 

 an indefinite amount of trouble. It is better to buy them ready for 

 use until one is thoroughly familiar with the needs of good hives, and 

 then, if deemed advisable, to attempt to make them. Even then the 

 frames and inside fixtures would better be bought from the manu- 

 facturers, who are prepared to furnish them accurately made, since 

 this course is not only the cheapest, but they will fit better in c^ery 



Section comb honey. 



way, and thus make their manipulation easier and more agreeable. 

 Not so difficult to make are the bottoms and covers to the hives, and 

 the descriptions and the illustrations will enable any average person 

 to make these quite cheaply. 



