206 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



WHEN THE GLUE IS BRITTLE. 



Sometimes the glue is brittle, especially if quite cold. 

 The case is then quite different. Sitting on it all day 

 would do no good, unless one is heavy enough to bring 

 down the whole thing suddenly. If pushing down with 

 the hands on the push-board produces no effect, I pound 

 with the fist on each corner enough to make the start. 

 Then lifting on the super at each end with the fingers, I 

 push the sections out of the super by pushing down on 

 the push-board with the thumbs (Fig. Jj'). 



After the first start is made, perhaps the super is at 

 once lifted off without any trouble, and perhaps further 

 coaxing is needed, and the super must be treated some- 

 what as one treats a refractory bureau-drawer. I lift on 

 each end alternately, holding down the push-board with 

 one hand and lifting with the other, then with both hands 

 lift off the super (Fig. 78). 



This sounds a little as if it was hard work getting 

 sections out of supers, because 1 have spent so much 

 time talking about the troublesome cases, but these are 

 the exceptional ones, and in general the work is easy 

 enough to be done rapidly. 



TAKING OUT UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



The empty super being set down and the push-board 

 removed, the unfinished sections are picked off, and the 

 super is put back on the sections as it was before. Then 

 the super and the board under it are reversed, and the 

 board lifted off. Finished sections from another super 

 used for that purpose, are put in to take the places of 

 the unfinished sections that were removed, and the super 

 with its 24 finished sections is put on the pile. 



