82 



Texas Department op Agriculture. 



used, and their use is advocated. It is an easy matter to drive the bees 

 down and out of these shallow supers with the smoker in very little 

 time and, when nearly all are out, the supers are removed rapidly 

 and the rest of the bees shaken therefrom. This is by far the most 

 rapid way of removing the surplus honey from the hives, since the 



entire supers are removed, in- 

 stead of single combs, and no 

 brushing is necessary. It is more 

 rapid than with the use of bee 

 escape boards, .since the supers 

 are removed in but little more 

 time than it takes to place the 

 escape boards in place. 



When the hives are ararnged 

 properly in the apiary, or, if in 

 groups of five under each tree, 

 the full supers can be removed in 

 a wholesale way from five hives 

 at a time. The bees of each hive 

 are smoked quickly in succession, 

 as the covers are removed, and 

 set against the tree. Returning 

 to the first hive, another rapid 

 smoking is given ; and so on with 

 all five hives. Beginning again 

 with the first hive, the uppermost 

 supers are rapidly taken off, and, after vigorously shaking the re- 

 maining bees out, are set on the wheelbarrow or honey cart. If 

 another round of supers is ready to be removed, another smoking 

 will be necessary, but as the bees are already on their way down from 

 the previous smokings, they are freed from the second or third 

 round of supers much more rapidly than the first. 

 By following such "short cut wholesale methods," it is an easy 



Rapid removal of shallow supers. 



A round of supers of comb honey ready to be taken off. 



