AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 125 



WORKING FOR COMB HONEY. 



The same method is pursued right up to the time of 

 putting on the top as when working for extracted honey, 

 but instead of using full depth supers, half-stories fur- 

 nished with one pound sections, as explained in a 

 previous chapter should be employed. Beginners 

 frequently complain of the difficulty in getting bees to 

 start work in the sections in the spring. This unwilling- 

 ness to enter the sections boxes in the early season on 

 the part of the bees, is readily explained. The bees 

 cannot build out comb until there is a fairly high 

 temperature to enable them to secrete and manipulate 

 the wax. About the time the top boxes are put on the 

 weather is frequently very changeable with cold nights, 

 and entirely against wax working, especially when the 

 bees are necessarily split up into small clusters as they 

 must be in section boxes. The weather must be settled 

 and fairly warm before the work can commence. 



" BAIT " SECTIONS. 



" Bait " sections are partly worked sections held over 

 from the previous season, and are very useful for 

 placing in the centre of the first boxes put on. No doubt 

 they afford some enticement to the bees to start work 

 in the sections a little earlier than they would otherwiste ; 

 in any case the frames should be covered snugly with 

 mats to retain the heat of the hive. 



After the bees get fairly started in the first top box, 

 place the second half-story underneath, and take care to 

 remove the sections as they are finished without waiting 

 for the whole of them to be ready for removal, and 

 replace them with empty sections. Remember that it is 

 more difficult to keep down swarming when working 

 for comb, than when running the hives for extracted 

 honey. Give ample working room immediately above 

 the brood chamber, and plenty of ventilation from below. 



See that the whole of the cells are capped over before 

 removing the sections, and when they have been 

 removed, scrape the boxes free from propolis, and allow 



