31 



in the grooves at either side and to hang to within one- 

 quarter of an inch of the bottom, thus allowing for a sUght 

 stretching of the foundation caused by the heat generated by 

 the bees when clustering in the hive. The fitted sections 

 must next be placed in the section rack, with separators 

 between the rows, reaching to within three-eighths of an inch 

 of the top and bottom, and wedged up perfectly square and 

 tight; this is important, for not only will the bees place 

 propolis in every crack and over every exposed small surface, 

 causing disfigurement and extra work in cleaning the sections 

 when completed, but also sections " out of square " are 

 difficult to glaze and are much more liable to breakage when 

 packed for travelling, owing to the unavoidable spaces caused 

 by their irregularity. The rack must be placed perfectly 

 level over a strong colony of bees, and should be well covered 

 with warm material to exclude the smallest draught and con- 

 serve the heat; the sections will then be filled with good, 

 straight and even combs. 



Removing Completed Racks. — Backs containing com- 

 pleted sections should be removed from the hives with as little 

 disturbance to the bees as possible; undue excitement will 

 cause the bees to perforate the cappings covering the honey to 

 such an extent as to make them unsaleable. The best method 

 is (1) to place a " super-clearer " on a stool or box by the 

 side of the hive, raise up the bottom edge of the rack from the 

 brood chamber or under super by means of a screwdriver, or 

 a similar tool, and insert a small wedge of wood underneath 

 the rack; (2) puff a little smoke between the rack and the 

 top of the under chamber, remove the rack steadily with a 

 screwing motion and put it down gently on the " super- 

 clearer " ; (3) place a cloth on which a few drops of diluted 

 carbolic acid have been sprinkled over the top of the under 

 chamber; (4) in about ten seconds remove the cloth, and it 

 will be found that the bees have been driven down, leaving the 

 top of the under chamber free from crawling bees; (5) then 

 immediately take up the rack with the " super clearer " and 

 place it back in its original position. If this operation is 

 carried out in the afternoon, by next morning every bee wiU 

 have found its way down to the body of the hive through the 

 bee-escape in the centre of the " super-clearer," and the rack 

 can be removed with comfort to the bee-keeper and without 

 disturbance to the apiary. 



The racks of completed sections should be carried into a 

 bee-proof room, and the spring blocks and following boards 

 removed. No matter how much care has been exercised, it 

 will be found that the bees have used a certain amount of 

 propolis to fasten the sections together and it will be necessary 

 therefore to loosen them by inserting a knife and easing them 

 sideways, when they can be lifted out without damage. The 

 sections should then be sorted, those which are well filled and 



