236 A Modern Bee-Farm 



needed, that she will not trouble to shift her quarters ; 

 and the outer combs will be so long occupied with brood 

 that the workers will not get into the habit of storing 

 there to begin with. See also the " Control -of Swarming 

 by Combined Swarming and Doubling." 



Spare Combs for Extracting 



may be obtained early in the season by inducing the bees 

 to build out foundation (wired or otherwise), inserted in 

 the brood nest ; or later above it. The combs will be 

 tougher, and a larger population will be obtained if such 

 new combs remain in the hive for breeding purposes, 

 while the outside older combs can be removed for extract- 

 ing purposes. 



Old Combs or New. 



Many bee-keepers who however produce extracted 

 honey only in limited quantities, appear to prefer white 

 combs for extracting ; such as have never been used for 

 breeding. They claim that the honey is cleaner and 

 lighter in colour ; but this is simply a theory which can 

 not be supported by sound practice. Now, new combs 

 have little to support their delicate construction, and when 

 these are emptied and stored away the wax rapidly 

 deteriorates, losing its oily nature, so that a wasteful pro- 

 cess of renewal is repeatedly necessary. 



Tough breeding combs are less likely to break in the 

 extractor, the stored honey leaves the cells more readily ; 

 while it is absolutely as clean and beautiful in colour as 

 that from the whitest combs. I have had it so very white 

 from my dark breeding combs in the surplus chamber 

 that it has been as light and clean as sparkling water, and 

 was mistaken for sugar syrup; and too at a period when 

 no feeding had taken place for many weeks, and the 

 light honey was being brought in by the hundredweights. 



