FEEDING 183 



are found to be thick and black, a small portion 

 should be cut off. Few if any hives need pruning 

 until the fifth or sixth year from the time the swarm 

 was put into the hive (those who advocate the renew- 

 ing or new comb system, to the contrary notwith- 

 standing), and then it is only necessary to cut say 

 five or six inches off the lower ends of the combs in 

 which the greatest number of young bees have been 

 raised. The store combs, and even a part of the 

 brood combs, may be used a much longer time, par- 

 ticularly the upper part. I have seldom found it 

 necessary to prune off more than one-third of the 

 combs at once, the first time we prune a hive, say six 

 inches in height. Combs thus renewed will do very 

 well for four or five years longer, when they should 

 be cut off up to the point where the honey and brood 

 meet. The upper part of the combs, for two or three 

 inches in depth from the top, if the hive is twelve or 

 fifteen inches in height in the clear, is generally kept 

 full of honey, unless in a season of great scarcity. 

 Combs so used will do very well for a long time for 

 the purposes required. I know of several hives 

 having such combs in, but little less than twenty 

 years old, that have been and now are good, thrifty 

 and productive stocks; the combs principally used 

 for breeding in have been pruned in the manner 

 described perhaps three times during that period. It 

 is a great error to suppose that combs should be cut 

 out and renewed every year, or even every three or 

 four years. If the hives are kept well covered and 

 shaded from the sun during hot weather, bees will 



