THE PRODUCTION OF HONEY. 
505 
finished, while starters in the latter position make 
but slow progress, and the safety-valve against 
swarming is thus kept open in the form of a vacancy 
near the entrance. 
The section crate must be so placed over the hive 
that no leak of air is permitted. Crevices should be 
carefully closed, and for this purpose old quilts, torn 
into strips, will be useful. When the sections have 
been started, the main difficulty is passed, and another 
box should be added below the first, when it is, 
perhaps, half completed ; the second, by creating a 
gap between the progressing combs and the brood- 
nest, strongly stimulates the bees to fill it. Henceforth 
foundation is nearly equal to comb, as the situation 
is already an accepted one, and bees got thus far will 
generally, if properly handled, go through the season 
without swarming. Previous explanations apply — new 
crates, as needed, being added beneath, while filled 
ones are removed from above. 
The danger of the queen entering has convinced 
most producers of comb honey that an excluder 
(pages 74, g8, and 114) of some kind, is, at the worst, 
the less of two evils. Opinions respecting the effect 
of an excluder are diverse, some stating that it 
considerably decreases the amount of honey, others 
that it makes no difference. It is impossible, of 
course, to dogmatise here, and comparison is im- 
practicable; but I can conceive of no reason why the 
amount of honey should be lessened, except that it 
is likely by its presence to somewhat disincline the 
bees to adopt the sections, since it tends to isolate 
them from the main body. The excluder, however, is 
