Whenever the combs of a top story are nearly filled, and before they are completely sealed, it may be lifted up and another story, filled with empty combs, placed between it and the brood apartment, and this may be continued until the end of the honey flow, and all may be left on the hive during the warm weather. It would, of course, be easier to add the new stories successively at the top--that is, above the partially filled surplus stories--and this plan works well as long as the honey flow is abundant, but when put on just as the yield slackens, even if but little, or when the weather is cool, the bees may refuse to begin work in the new super unless it is placed between the partially filled ones and the brood apartment. Leaving the filled top stories on the hives for some time permits the more complete evaporation of the moisture contained in the newly gathered honey, and by marking the stories the honey from a certain source, when the yield has been sufficient to get the combs filled and sealed, can be extracted by itself. If the supply of combs is insufficient to hold the whole amount gathered, it must then be extracted as fast as sealed, lest the bees, lacking ready cells in which to deposit their surplus as fast as gathered, hang idly about, or if space for new combs exists, only slowly provide these, losing meanwhile much of the harvest. When sealed the honey will generally be found fairly ripened, though it may improve by being stored in open buckets or cans in a dry, warm room. [Illustration: Fig. 55.--Uncapping and extracting honey. (Original.)]