84 Advanced Bee Culture 



If there is any time when separators are needed, it is in feeding 

 back. If the combs, both finished and unfinished, could be left undis- 

 turbed upon the hive, and the bees fed until all the combs were finished, 

 feeding back would be no reason why separators should be u>ed; but 

 when the unfinished combs are put back in the cases, a great deal of 

 judgment and patience are needed unless separators are used. Bees 

 usually leave a space of about % of an inch between conil)- ; and in 

 putting back unfinished sections, where separators are not used, this 

 fact must be kept in mind. When the space is less than this, no harm 

 is done unless it is so small that a bee can not pass through, when 

 the bees will connect the two surfaces by little bridges of wax; and 

 \\dien the sections are taken apart these little connecting bridges will 

 iniU pieces out from one comb or the other. When the space is much 

 greater than 's, and the comb upon each side is sealed, the bees, es- 

 pecially if crowded, will construct comb upon the sealed surface of the 

 Cither comb, which gives it a very botchy appearance. If the comb at 

 one side of the space is sealed and the other not, the sealed comb will 

 be undisturbed, while the unsealed cells upon the other side will be 

 lengthened out until the space between the two combs is reduced to 

 about y%. If, in this instance, the sealed cnmb is smooth and even, and 

 in the right place as regards the section as a whole, all will be well ; 

 but if it be concave or convex, the unfinished comb facing it will be 

 drawn out in conformity with the surface of the finished comb. If two 

 unfinished surfaces, in the same stage of completion, are brought facing- 

 each other near the center of the super they will be drawn out and 

 sealed straight and true and alike ; if they are near the outside, the 

 chances are that the comb nearest the center of the super will grow faster 

 than the one further out, and a bulge will be the result. Combs near 

 the center of the super are drawn out quicker and finished sooner than 

 those at the outside and corners ; hence I place at the outside those 

 sections that are the nearest completion ; and especially do I take pains 

 to have sealed surfaces come next to the sides of the super, while combs 

 that are furthest from completion are placed in the center. By this 

 management, all of the combs are finished at about the same time. 

 Unless some of the combs begin to show signs of travel-stain it is better 

 to leave on the super until all or nearly all of the sections are completed : 

 for, as the combs near completion, this matter of adjustment becomes 

 more difficult. When separators are used, all of these troubles vanish. 



When foundation is used, and comb honey produced "right from 

 the stump," so to speak, by the feeding of extracted honey, we have 

 none of this patching, bulging difficulty to contend with, as all of the 

 combs grow alike ; and some of the finest, straightest, plumpest and 

 most handsome comb honey can thus be produced that the eye ever 



