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.
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Bee-escape board for removing bees
from supers. (From Phillips.)]
=Preparing Supers.=
=FOLDING SECTIONS.=
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