156 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



GUESSING ABOUT MOEE SUPER BOOM. 



On the whole, there is a mixture of judgment and guess- 

 work as to putting on any super after the first. Perhaps the 

 nearest to a general rule in the matter is to give a second super 

 when the first is half filled. If, however, honey seems to be 

 coming in slowly, or if the colony is not strong, and the bees 

 seem to have plenty of room in the super, no second super is 

 given, although the one already there may be nearly filled with 

 honey. On the other hand, if honey seems to be coming with 

 a rush, and the bees seem crowded for room, a second super 

 may be given although there is very little honey in the first. 

 These same conditions continued, a third super may be given 

 when the second is only fairly started and the first not half 

 full, and before the first super is ready to take off there may 

 be four or five supers on the hive. 



RISKING IN GOOD SEASON. 



In the year 1897 — a remarkably prosperous year — there 

 was on the hives in the Wilson apiary, an average of four 

 supers to each colony, some colonies with less than four and 

 some with more before a single super was filled. As I would 

 lie at night thinking it over, I would say to myself, "What if 

 there should come one of those sudden stops to the flow that 

 sometimes occur, and you should be caught "with those tons of 

 honey with scarcely any sections finished in the lot? Wouldn't 

 you wish you had gone a little slower, and had the beeS finish 

 up what they had, rather than coax them to spread out over 

 more territory?" And then the cold chills would run up and 

 down my back. But the sudden stop didn't come, and the 

 crop was finished in good style. The supers were all well filled 

 with bees, and although I took some chances as to unfinished 

 work, I feel pretty sure that if I had allowed less room it 

 would have been at a loss. But that was a very exceptional 

 case. 



Usually, in a fair season, when the harvest is in full blast 

 and fairly along, there will be three, four, or more supers upon 

 each hive, at one time, and in an extra season there may be a 

 few hives having seven, or even eight, supers each. That does 



