EXTRACTED HONEY. 433 
hives, and we decidedly prefer the half-story supers, for 
several reasons, after having used both kinds on a large 
scale for years. 
The frames of the half-story supers are more easily hand- 
led when full, and the combs are less apt to break down 
from heat or handling. The half-story super is better 
suited for the use of an average colony, and in cool weather 
is more easily kept warm by the bees, than a full-story. 
Very strong colonies, in extraordinary seasons, can be 
readily accommodated with two and even three of these 
cases successively. 
758. With the full-story supers, the queen and the bees 
are more apt to desert the lower story altogether, in poor 
honey seasons, and establish their brood-nest in the upper 
story, especially when the combs of the lower or brood 
chamber are old, and those above are new. ‘The sole ad- 
vantage of the full-story super is that the frames in it are 
exactly of the same size as those below, and can be inter- 
changed with them if necessary ; but with large hives it will 
never be required to use upper story combs for feed- 
ing, and even if the queen should breed in these shallow 
cases, at times, she is soon crowded out of them by the sur- 
plus honey. 
759. The upper story frames are filled with comb found- 
ation (674), or even with old worker comb, and can be 
used indefinitely, since the honey is extracted from them, 
and they are returned unbroken to the bees. We have now 
several thousands of these combs, some of which have 
already passed fifteen or twenty times through the extractor 
and are now as good as at first, nay, even better; for some, 
which were very dark, are lighter in color now, on account 
of the dark cells having been shaved by the honey knife 
and mended, by the bees, with new wax. These supers are 
given to the bees, a few days previous to the opening of the 
honey crop. 
28 
