EXTRACTED HONEY. 438 



hives, and we decidedly prefer the half-story supers, for 

 several reasons, after having used both kinds on a large 

 scale for years. 



The frames of the half-story supers are more easily hand- 

 led when full, and the combs are less apt to break down 

 from heat or handling. The half-story super is better 

 suited for the use of an average colony, and in cool weather 

 is more easily kept warm by the bees, than a full-story. 

 Very strong colonies, in extraordinary seasons, can be 

 readily accommodated with two and even three of these 

 cases successively. 



768. With the full-story supers, the queen and the bees 

 are more apt to desert the lower story altogether, in poor 

 honey seasons, and establish their brood-nest in the upper 

 story, especially when the combs of the lower or brood 

 chamber are old, and those above are new. The sole ad- 

 vantage of the full- story super is that the frames in it are 

 exactly of the same size as those below, and can be inter- 

 changed with them if necessary ; but with large hives it will 

 never be required to use upper story combs for feed- 

 ing, and even if the queen should breed in these shallow 

 cases, at times, she is soon crowded out of them by the sur- 

 plus honey. 



769. The upper story frames are filled with comb found- 

 ation (674), or even with old worker comb, and can be 

 used indefinitely, since the honey is extracted from them, 

 and they are returned unbroken to the bees. We have now 

 several thousands of these combs, some of which have 

 already passed fifteen or twenty times through the extractor 

 and are now as good as at first, nay, even better ; for some, 

 which were very dark, are lighter in color now, on account 

 of the dark cells having been shaved by the honey knife 

 and mended, by the bees, with new wax. These supers are 

 given to the bees, a few days previous to the opening of the 

 honey crop. 



28 



