If, however, this honey flow comes so early that it is likely to be preceded by weather unfavorable to the development of brood, it will be necessary to allow for this by beginning the stimulation even earlier, so that it may be done more gradually, and the greatest care will have to be taken to retain all the heat of the brood nest. Should the main flow be preceded by a lighter one, especially if the latter comes some weeks before the chief harvest, it may be important to watch the brood nest closely lest it becomes clogged with honey to the exclusion of brood, inclining the bees not to enter surplus receptacles placed above and causing the colony to be weak in numbers later in the season. This state of affairs can be easily avoided by the timely use of the honey extractor, since the brood combs, emptied of the honey which the workers in an emergency have stored wherever they found vacant cells, are made available for the queen. Before the main harvest opens it may even be necessary in order to keep the combs filled with brood to feed back gradually this extracted honey or its equivalent; but by taking it away and returning it gradually the object sought will have been accomplished, namely, keeping the combs stocked with brood until the harvest is well under way, or as long as the larger population thus gained in the hive can be made available. It is in this getting workers ready for the early harvest--hives over flowing, as it were, with bees--that the skill of the apiarist is taxed to its utmost. The work properly begins with the close of the summer preceding the harvest, for the first steps toward successful wintering should be taken then, and unless wintered successfully the colony can not be put in shape to take full advantage of an early honey harvest. Good judgment in the application of the hints given in this chapter, with careful and frequent attention, will bring colonies to the chief spring or early summer flow of honey in good condition, with plenty of bees and with combs well stocked with brood, provided they have wintered well and have good queens. TRANSFERRING. If colonies have been purchased in box hives, it is advisable at the first favorable opportunity to get them into frame hives. [Illustration: Fig. 53.--Transferring--drumming the bees from a box hive into a frame hire. (Original.)]