416 HONEY PRODUCTION. 



and the Heddon, both patented. The former has frames of 

 the same size as the regular Langstroth pattern, and is 

 quite popular in Iowa. 



728. Reversing during the harvest does not cause the 

 bees to gather anj- more honey ; nay, they harvest even a 

 little less, owing to the time occupied in transporting the 

 honey, hut it is all placed in the surplus apartment at the 

 mercy of their owner. 



A much safer method to induce the bees to work in the 

 supers, is to place in them nearest the brood, a few un- 

 finished sections from the previous season.* The supers 

 should be located as near the brood apartment as possible, 

 with as much direct communication as can be conveniently 

 given. 



729. But, with the greatest skill, it is impossible to 

 attract the bees into the supers, as long as there are empty 

 combs in the brood-chamber. 



If the queen is unable to occupy all the combs with 

 brood, the empty ones should be removed at the beginning 

 of the honey harvest, and either given to swarms or divided 

 colonies, or placed outside of the division board (349). 

 This is called " contraction." We would warn our readers 

 against excessive contraction, for, after the honey season 

 is over, a hive which has been contracted to, say, two- 

 thirds, of its capacity, has become dwarfed in honey, 

 brood, and bees, and will run some risks through the Win- 

 ter. Besides, that part of the super, which is above 

 the empty space, is but reluctantly occupied by bees. 



"If the reader has ever constructed a hive, whose surplus 

 department was wider than the brood chamber, jutting out over 

 the same, he has noticed the partial neglect paid by the bees, to 

 the surplus boxes which rested over wood instead of combs. 



•ThiBiswhat Dr C. C. Miller calls a "bait." These unfinished sections 

 have been emptied of theii honey by the extractor, and cleaned by the bees 

 the previotiB Fall. 



