Part 2

Sections are supported either by means of cross supports under the ends of the sections or by a slat of proper width supporting each row of sections. The T super (fig. 7), so called from the shape of a cross section of the strip of tin used to support the sections is illustrative of the first, while the supporting slats, section holders (figs. 8, 9 and 10), and wide frames (fig. 11) are illustrative of the second type of support.

=Protection.=

The T super and others of this type offer no protection against propolizing to either the top or bottom of the sections, the section holder or slat (figs. 8, 9, and 10) protects the bottom, while in the wide frame (fig. 11) the entire outer surface of the sections is protected except at the edges. The greater the protection afforded the section, the more complicated and expensive the super, and the more complicated supers require more labor in cleaning of propolis and filling with sections. On the other hand, sections of honey produced in properly constructed wide-frame supers are much more easily cleaned of propolis, and ordinarily present a neater appearance when packed for market.

=Free Communication Within the Super.=

The use of closed-top sections (1-beeway) and solid separators, making each section a separate compartment with openings for the bees at the bottom only, illustrates one extreme; while the sections with openings on all four sides (4-beeway) used without separators illustrate the other extreme as to free communication; and between these extremes are various intermediate types.

It would be desirable so to adjust the sections that when filled with honey a row of them would, so far as the bees are concerned, be equivalent to a single comb, that the bees might have the same free access to the outside row of cells from all sides as they do the other cells and might pass up or down from any section and the full length of the row, as well as around the ends. While, under the same conditions, such free access to the outside row of cells from all sides would result in the sections being slightly better filled than with the ordinary adjustments, such an arrangement presents some mechanical difficulties and would add considerable to the first cost of the supers. If separators were not necessary, such an adjustment of sections could be readily accomplished. In Europe a type of separator having transverse openings corresponding to the upright edges of the sections is used to give free communication lengthwise of the row of sections. In this country some such separators are used as well as a separator made of wire cloth so spaced between the rows of sections as to give free communication along the rows, as well as from one row to another. These, however, are not widely used in the United States.

The plain section, when used in connection with the "fence" separator (fig. 4), having the upright posts considerably shorter than the height of the section, offers a fair compromise as to free communication within the super. Most of the comb honey produced in this country, however, is produced in sections which offer no communication from section to section lengthwise of the super, being produced in the regular 2-beeway section, having openings at the top and bottom only (figs. 7 and 8).

=THE USE OF SEPARATORS.=

Separators are made of strips of tin or wood and are used between the rows of sections to compel the tees to build the combs straight and all within the section. The thicker the combs the greater becomes the necessity for separators. While an expert can produce very uniform comb honey without separators during a heavy honey flow by using very narrow sections, it is usually not advisable to do so on account of the resulting large percentage of imperfect combs, especially during poor and indifferent seasons and at the close of any season. The use of separators results in a much more uniform product.

=SHALLOW EXTRACTING SUPERS.=

Some comb-honey producers add to their equipment one shallow extracting super for each colony. These are a great convenience in a comb-honey apiary and may be used for the following purposes: (1) To keep the brood chamber free of honey before the beginning of the main honey flow; (2) to use at the beginning of the honey flow to induce the bees to begin work promptly in the supers; (3) to use at the close of the honey flow instead of the last comb-honey super; (4) to use during any flow of inferior honey or honeydew; (5) to use during very poor seasons when first-class comb honey can not be produced.

=COMBINATION SUPERS.=

Other comb-honey producers provide each comb-honey super with two shallow extracting combs. These are placed one on each side of the super with the sections between them (fig. 11). The purpose of this arrangement is to induce the bees to begin work in the super promptly without the use of "bait sections" (sections containing comb previously drawn) or an extracting super and also to do away with the usual poorly finished sections in the corners and outside rows. One great advantage of this system over the use of an extracting super to start early super work is that the combs are not removed. When shallow extracting supers are used for this purpose, they are removed as soon as the bees have started well in them and a comb-honey super substituted. This brings back much the same conditions existing before giving the extracting super, and while some colonies will begin work in the sections promptly when the change is made, many colonies hesitate about beginning the new work almost as though the extracting super had not been used. Such colonies are thus thrown out of "condition", (p. 19) and may begin preparations to swarm. The use of these combs in supers that are added subsequently allows the apiarist to place the empty super over the one already on the hive until the bees begin work therein without seriously crowding the super room, because each super thus added contains room in the form of empty comb into which the new nectar may be stored at once (see p. 42).

=Other Apparatus.=

Among the other apparatus needed in commercial comb-honey production are a honey extractor, wax press, bee-escapes, and escape boards (fig. 12), queen-excluding honey boards (fig. 2), feeders, tools, etc. It is not necessary to provide queen-excluding honey boards for each colony unless some special system is followed, yet a few excluders are very desirable for various special manipulations. Good feeders may be had by using tin pans in connection with an empty super. A handful of grass should be placed on the sirup to prevent the bees from drowning. In addition to these appliances in the northern States, if the hives are single walled, some means of protection is necessary if the colonies are wintered out of doors.

=Preparing Supers.=

=FOLDING SECTIONS.=

Section presses and foundation fasteners are sometimes combined in one machine by which the section is pressed together square and the foundation is fastened by a single operation. Usually, however, they are separate machines requiring that each section be handled twice before it is ready to be placed into the super. Ordinarily the one-piece sections must be dampened before folding, as otherwise the breakage is considerable and the sections are greatly weakened by folding. A crate of sections as it comes from the factory may be dampened by removing one side so as to expose the V-shaped grooves, then directing a small stream of hot water into these grooves. Care should be taken that only the thin portion where the section is folded be dampened. Another very satisfactory method of dampening sections is to wrap the crates containing them in a wet blanket the day before they are to be folded.

=FASTENING FOUNDATION IN SECTIONS.=

The use of comb foundation in full sheets filling each section as nearly as possible is considered a necessity in the production of fancy comb honey. This foundation should be as thin as can be used without being gnawed or torn down by the bees. The sheet of foundation is usually fastened centrally at the top of the section, leaving only enough space at the sides to allow it to swing freely without binding and about three-sixteenths to one-fourth inch at the bottom to allow for stretching while being drawn out. To secure better attachment of the comb to the bottom of the section, a bottom starter about five-eighths inch wide may be used. In this case the top starter should reach to within three-sixteenths to one-fourth inch of the bottom starter. In some localities the character of the flow is such that but little is gained by the use of the bottom starter, while in other localities it is difficult to produce honey that will stand shipment well without it.

The various types of apparatus usually used for fastening foundation in the sections make use of a heated metal plate which, after melting the edge of the sheet of foundation, is withdrawn, allowing the melted edge to be brought quickly in contact with the section. This fastens one edge of the sheet of foundation firmly to the wood. Foundation fasteners employing this principle may be simply a hand apparatus consisting of a metal plate of proper size provided with a handle, the operator transferring the tool from the source of heat to the edge of the foundation. Or the principle may be incorporated in a more or less complex machine which provides for the maintenance of the proper temperature of the heated plate, its movement to melt the edge of the foundation and a proper support for the section and foundation during the process. For the purpose of securing better filled sections of honey various methods of attaching the sheet of foundation to the sides as well as the top of the section have been devised, but are not extensively used by producers. Among these methods are fitting the sheet of foundation in place, then directing a fine stream of melted wax along its edges, or the use of split sections in which a sheet of foundation is continuous through a row of sections, extending through their sides and top.

Some super construction is such that the sections may be placed directly into the super by the operator who puts in the foundation. This work is usually done during the winter months when the bees require no special attention. Enough supers should be provided to take care of the largest possible crop, even though it is not often that all are used the same season. The beekeeper who is operating several apiaries can not afford to take time to prepare supers for the bees during a good honey flow. Supers of sections thus prepared in advance should be kept clean by storing them in piles and keeping the piles covered from dust.

=MANIPULATION OF THE BEES.=

It is important to note that there are four essential factors entering into the securing of a crop of honey: (1) A sufficient amount of bloom of healthy and well-nourished nectar-secreting plants growing in sou to which they are adapted and within range of the apiary. (2) Weather conditions favorable to nectar secretion and bee flight. (3) A large number of workers in excess of those needed for the routine work of the colony. (4) Conditions of the colony making the storing instinct dominant. If any one of these factors is absent, the effect of the other three is immediately nullified, and the amount of honey secured will vary as these factors are present at the same time in greater or less degree or as the time during which they are all present is longer or shorter. It is therefore possible to have each of these factors present at some time during the season without securing a crop of honey and the period of time during which they are all present at the same time is usually quite short.

Grouping the first and second factors we have a combination usually spoken of as the locality and season. These factors are largely beyond the control of the beekeeper except as he may choose a location in which both are usually present at some time or times during the season, may take advantage of the plants of several locations by practising migratory beekeeping, or may improve a given locality by directly or indirectly increasing the amount of nectar-secreting plants, such as buckwheat, alsike clover, sweet clover, or alfalfa.

Grouping the third and fourth factors we have conditions capable of being brought about by manipulation and for which the beekeeper is more directly responsible. The beekeeper's skill therefore lies in supplying and maintaining these factors throughout the short period during which the bees may store more than they consume. He should know which plants may be expected to furnish the nectar for his crop of honey, that his various manipulations may be properly timed. It should be noted that the shorter the duration of the honey flow, the greater becomes the necessity of having the colonies in proper condition at its beginning and keeping them so until its close. However lavish nature may be with the secretion of nectar and fine weather, it is of little avail if the beekeeper fails to secure a large force of workers to gather and store his crop or, even having provided workers, if he fails to keep his forces together and contented, bending all their energy in the one direction of gathering and storing honey. It is a common occurrence among inexperienced beekeepers to have the colonies become strong enough to work in the supers only after the flowers have ceased blooming or to see strong colonies during a good honey flow doing nothing in the supers simply because conditions are not such as to make the storing instinct dominant.

So far as the skill of the beekeeper is concerned in the production of the crop of honey in a given location, every manipulation of the season should be directed (1) toward securing the greatest possible number of vigorous workers at the proper time, and (2) keeping the entire working force of each colony together and contentedly at work throughout the given honey flow.

=Securing Workers for the Honey Flow.=

Of course, the shorter the period for brood rearing previous to the honey flow, the more serious the problem of getting the colonies strong enough. Adverse weather conditions greatly retard brood rearing and thus have the effect of shortening this period. On the other hand, in some localities the main honey flow comes so late in the season that the colonies may even be divided and both divisions built up.

In most comb-honey localities the season is short and there is usually during the season only one honey flow that furnishes any considerable surplus suitable for comb honey, with perhaps other honey flows either very meager or furnishing honey unsuitable in color. The early minor flows are in such localities utilized in brood rearing in preparation for the main flow, and those occurring after the main flow may be utilized for winter stores, or if sufficient in quantity some surplus may be secured. In localities where the season is made up of a series of honey flows of almost equal importance and with sometimes a long interval between, the problem of securing workers for the harvest is rendered more complex, since the process must be repeated for each crop or the colonies kept very strong throughout the season. As a rule such localities are not the best for comb-honey production.

The workers that gather and store the crop of honey are those that emerge during the few weeks preceding and during the first part of the honey flow. Unless it is of unusual duration, the eggs that produce these workers are all laid before the honey flow begins, since those which develop from eggs laid later are not ready for work until after the close of the flow. On the other hand, the workers that emerge six weeks or more before the honey flow will have died of old age or be too old to be of much value during the flow. Their services, however, are of great value provided they expend their energy to the best possible advantage in rearing brood. If brood rearing ceases or is greatly restricted during this period, a colony that has been strong earlier in the season is rendered almost worthless as gatherers, since it begins the harvest with old and worn-out workers. This is exactly what often happens unless the beekeeper is alert and provides conditions such that brood rearing is not restricted during this period. In the clover belt, for example, it frequently happens that there is a scarcity of nectar during the period when the workers for the harvest should be reared and, unless the colonies are abundantly supplied with stores, brood rearing is greatly restricted. This may to some extent justify the saying among beekeepers that if the early flowers yield well the season will be good. The progressive beekeeper, however, provides conditions favorable to brood rearing even though the early flowers fail to yield nectar. It is therefore highly important (1) that each colony be in a normal condition at a period six or eight weeks previous to the honey flow, and (2) that brood rearing be at its maximum for the entire period of six or eight weeks during which the brood is reared to produce workers available for the honey flow.

=BUILDING UP THE COLONY IN THE EARLY SPRING.=

The condition of the colonies in the early spring depends upon many factors not all of which are under the control of the beekeeper. In the white-clover belt for instance, where the honey flow comes early, a large percentage of strong colonies in early spring means of course that they have wintered well, which in turn is largely dependent upon proper conditions the previous late summer and autumn. The manipulations having for their purpose the rapid upbuilding of the colony may therefore have their beginning at or even before the close of the honey flow of the previous year, including late summer and fall management and wintering. Good queens, preferably young, with enough room for breeding purposes and a supply of stores during the previous late summer and autumn are among the factors favoring good wintering. During the winter the central idea is the conservation of the energy of the bees, the complex details of which can not be presented in this paper.

The rapidity with which the colonies build up in early spring depends upon a number of conditions, some of which are: (1) The number and vitality of the workers; (2) the age and fecundity of the queen; (3) the supply and location of stores within the hive; (4) weather conditions; (5) the supply of new pollen, nectar, and water; (6) the conservation of heat within the brood nest; (7) the race of bees; (8) the character of the brood combs, etc. Most of these conditions are to a great extent within the control of the beekeeper. By supplying each colony with a young queen the previous autumn, or at least supplanting all undesirable ones, a greater number of young and vigorous workers are reared late in the season, which usually means greater vitality and numbers the next spring. Young queens reared the previous summer or autumn should be in prime condition the next spring. If to this combination is added an abundance of stores within the hives, brood rearing should progress rapidly, even in spite of adverse weather conditions. It is now the general practice among beekeepers to supply enough stores the previous autumn not only for winter stores but for brood-rearing purposes the next spring. Since the amount consumed during the winter varies considerably with different colonies, an early examination to determine the amount of stores may be necessary. Under some conditions it may be found profitable to stimulate brood rearing early in the spring by slowly feeding diluted sugar sirup to each colony, by spreading brood, or by doing both, but any very early stimulation of this kind should be used with caution. Among extensive beekeepers the tendency is decidedly toward letting the bees alone until the weather is more settled, simply making sure that they have sufficient stores. The apiary should, if possible, be so located that the bees may have access to water without the necessity of exposure of a long flight during bad weather. In localities that do not furnish natural pollen, it may be necessary to feed an artificial substitute, such as rye meal. A good hive that will conserve the heat of the cluster is also a great help in early brood rearing. Some beekeepers who winter their colonies in the cellar in single-walled hives find it profitable to give them some additional protection after they have been removed from the cellar. In the northern States double-walled hives are especially advantageous during the spring. A protected location for the apiary in some instances makes a great difference in early brood rearing. Some races breed up more rapidly in the spring than others. The Italians are somewhat conservative in this respect, but have so many excellent traits that they are generally used in this country. In localities having intermittent honey flows Italian bees may not give the best results because of their tendency to restrict brood rearing during the honey flow by crowding the queen and to curtail the production of brood during a scarcity of nectar. Drone comb within the brood nest in early spring is a decided barrier to rapid brood rearing. Many brood combs considered by the average beekeeper to be perfect contain, especially in the upper portion, a large percentage of cells which can not be used for rearing worker brood because of imperfections in shape and size due to the stretching of this portion of the combs during hot weather. This suggests the advisability of the use of a heavier grade of foundation or some method of using vertical wires or wooden splints in the upper half of the sheet of foundation.

=THE PRODUCTION OF GATHERING BEES.=

During the six or eight weeks just preceding the honey flow every colony should be encouraged to rear the greatest possible amount of brood. Brood rearing during this period is often restricted by insufficient stores or by insufficient room. It is therefore of great importance that both stores and available brood-rearing space be supplied in abundance. If stimulative feeding or spreading the brood is practiced, this is the time it should be done.

=Providing Sufficient Stores.=

If feeding is not practiced during this critical period, the beekeeper should see that each colony is at all times supplied with a reserve of stores, for surprisingly large quantities are consumed when brood rearing is going on rapidly. If any colonies should run short, brood rearing will be carried on sparingly and the colony so severely crippled that it may not recover its strength until after the honey flow is over.