Texas Beekeeping. 65 



comb along the top bars, but this is too late, unless swarms are de- 

 sired, as this indicates a crowded condition in the brood chamber. 

 It is better to put them on a little before the real honey flow begins, 

 than even a day later, as this might mean a serious loss in honey, 

 both from the lack of needed room at the right time, or by inducing 

 swarming at the expense of honey gathering. 



WHY BEES don't WORK IN SUPERS? 



This is another question that is often asked. The inexperienced 

 beekeeper expects that at a certain time all colonies, no matter what 

 the circumstances or conditions may be, will begin to store honey in 

 the supers. A colony may be so weak in numbers that it has all it 

 can do to take care of the necessary work in the brood chamber ; 

 hence, can not go into the supers to work, or a colony may be 

 strong enough, but there may be room in the brood chamber that will 

 be filled before storing elsewhere, as the toes prefer to work as near 

 the brood nest as possible. Many colonies, however, hesitate to enter 

 the supers, even during the honey flow, and with the brood chamber 

 filled fuU, and it then becomes necessary to entice them into the 

 supers by giving them partly built combs of honey in these. After 

 they have once begun work in them, other conditions being favorable, 

 they will continue to do so as long as the honey flow lasts. 



The most practical way of getting such colonies started in the super 

 work is to exchange their super for one from a colony that has al- 

 ready begun work nicely. It is not necessary to free these supers 

 entirely of bees, but it must be certain that the queens are not in 

 them when taken to another colony.. It is quite safe, however, to 

 drive most of the bees out of the supers with smoke when the covers 

 are lifted off, and the queens will leave the supers in seeking refuge 

 in the brood chambers below. Then the supers, combs, bees and all 

 are simply exchanged and set on the colonies that refused to work in 

 them before. The bees brought with the supers, in which the bees 

 were already at work, will be an additional aid in continuing the 

 work in them. 



Often the reason why the bees do not enter the supers is because 

 there is no honey for the bees to store, even if there is an abundance 

 of bloom, as there may not be any nectar in it. 



COMB BUILDING AND BEESWAX. 



The combs are built by the bees out of pure wax, and for two pur- 

 poses, to rear their young, and for storing their food — honey and 

 pollen. The wax is secreted by the bees from certain glands that lead 

 to the scale-like rings, or "wax pockets," on the lower side of the 

 abdomen, and is not brought from the flowers in little round pellets 

 on the hind legs of the bees, as many suppose. This is pollen and 

 not wax. 



"When the bees are secreting wax they hang together in festoon- 

 like fashion, and, consuming much honey, undergo a certain sweating 

 process, during which the liquid wax passes through the glands and 



