36 



In producing comb honey it Is essential to manipulate the colony so as 

 to have a large force of bees ready for the field at the beginning of the 

 honey flow. This requires careful spring management and swarm manipu- 

 lation. When the brood combs begin to whiten at the top it is time to 

 place on a super. 



Supers should always be put in place just before the heavy honey flow 

 begins To prevent the queen from entering the super and laying 

 eggs, a queen excluder should be placed between it and the brood chamber. 



In order to stimulate the bees to begin work in the super as soon as 

 possible to prevent the loss of honey, it is a good plan to put in a few 

 partly drawn sections, left over from the previous year, to serve as "bait." 

 If no drawn sections are at hand a shallow extracting frame on each 

 side of the sections will answer the same purpose. Another good plan, 

 where colonies with sufBcient strength refuse to start work above, is to 

 change supers with a colony that has started working in their sections. 

 Supers should always be protected from the direct rays of the sun. 



Full sheets of thin foundation in the section produces the finest comb 

 honey. Some beekeepers prefer a narrow strip of starter at the bot- 

 tom and nearly a full sheet from the top. 



Where comb honey is produced, the bees are more inclined to swarm 

 on account of the required crowded condition necessary to produce 

 nice capped sections. When a colony swarms, on which is a super 

 partly filled with honey, the bees abandon this work due to a depletion 

 of the field force. 



WHEN THE BEES SWARM. 



Some apiarists have adopted the plan of keeping one wing of the queen 

 clipped so as to prevent her flying. Then if the swarm leaves the hive the 

 queen can easily be caught and caged. Remove the hive from which 

 the swarm has just issued from Its stand and place the newly prepared 

 hive in its stead. The bees soon discover the absence of the queen and 

 return to the old stand and enter the new hive. As the bees are enter- 

 ing, liberate the queen so she enters with the bees. Take the super 

 from the old hive and place it on the new hive. The bees remaining in 

 the old hive can be shaken from the frames in front of the new hive and 

 the frames of brood distributed among the weaker colonies in the apiary. 

 Or replace the frames with capped brood and give the youngest brood to 

 the weak colony. This plan strengthens the weak colonies and elimi- 

 nates the inclination of swarming without curtailing the production to 

 any appreciable extent. 



WHEN TO REMOVE THE SECTIONS. 



When the first super becomes halt full or more and there is an indica- 

 tion of a continued honey flow, raise it and place an empty one on the 

 hive under it. This tiering can be continued along as is necessary but 

 it is advisable to remove the filled sections as soon as they are nicely 

 capped, in order that they may not be soiled by the bees traveling over 

 them. It is essential to give the bees only enough sections to store the 



