COMB HONEY. 417 



" Now this same difference made liy the bees, between wood and 

 comb, tliey will also make between combs of honey and combs 

 of brood, and with our 8-fnune Langstioth hive, we notice far 

 less neglect of the side surplus combs than we noticed when 

 using the 10-frame hives. This is one objection to the method 

 of contracting by replacing the side combs of brood chambers 

 with fillers or dummies."— J. Heddon "Success in Bee-Culture." 



730. A method which avoids contraction, and makes the 

 best honey-producing colonies still better, consists in taking 

 brood combs from colonies that are not likely to yield 

 any surplus, and exchanging them, for empty combs from 

 the best colonies, just before the honey harvest. This 

 method requires too many manipulations to be very advan- 

 tageous, and prevents the poorest colonies from becoming 

 stronger. 



731. 2d. Securing straight, even cojibs, in sections. 

 With thin comb foundation, in strips filling J to f of the 

 section, the combs are always straight, but their surface, 

 when sealed, is not alwaj-s even. Some cells are built longer 

 than others, and, in packing the honey, these bulged combs 

 might come in contact with one another and get bruised. 

 To prevent this occurrence, many Apiarists use "separa- 

 tors," made of tin, wood, or coarse wire cloth, placed be- 

 tween the rows of sections, as in fig. 171. This invention, 

 claimed by Mr. Betsinger, of New York, was first tried in 

 the brood chamber, by Mr. Langstroth in 1858. It was 

 suggested by Mr. Colvin. (See former edition, page 374.) 



Let the reader bear in mind that these separators although 

 useful, are not indispensable. They are to a certain ex- 

 tent an annoyance to the bees. Some Apiarists of ability, 

 among whom we will cite Mr. Geo. H. Beard, of Missouri, 

 manage to secure very nice honey in sections without them ; 

 but if we were to produce large quantities of comb honey, 

 we should use them, and would give the preference to those 

 made of tin. 

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