When the extracting is done after the close of the gathering period, the greatest care should be taken not to start robbing. The surplus combs should be returned to the hives just before nightfall, and not even a taste of sweets of any kind should be left exposed. The object in returning the combs is to have them cleaned up, and also to have them under the protection of the bees until cool weather puts a stop to the destructive work of wax-moth larvæ. When sharp frosts occur, the surplus combs may be removed from the hives and placed in a dry, cold room. An open loft (if not infested with mice or if the combs are protected from the latter) is a good place, and it is much better to place the combs so they do not touch each other. COMB HONEY. The general directions given in the preceding chapter on spring manipulation to secure populous colonies apply as well to those designed for comb honey as to those which are to produce extracted honey. If any difference is to be observed it is even more important that the former be brought to the opening of the honey flow with the brood combs compactly filled with developing bees to the exclusion of honey, than that the latter should be so; and colonies not strong enough to enter sections readily, if at all, may still be utilized, and often do fairly well in the production of extracted honey. The old-fashioned surplus boxes holding 25 to 30 pounds are regarded quite as relics of the past by those who use frame hives and produce comb honey in fine marketable shape, and even if for home consumption the pound (fig. 50) and 12-pound sections are always preferred, since they are so cheap, permit the use of comb foundation, and are in neat shape and of convenient size for the table. [Illustration: Fig. 56.--One-piece V-grooved section. (From Gleanings.)] Section holders (fig. 57) with sections folded and in place, each section supplied with thin foundation, preferably full sheets, but at least guides, should be in readiness before the opening of the harvest. Forty to fifty sections for each hive should be prepared. One-piece sections, if bought in the flat, should be placed in the cellar for two or three days before folding. If the section back of the V-joints is then moistened slightly they can be set up rapidly without breakage. Sections made of white poplar are by far the neatest looking and do not cost much if any more than basswood, so that bee keepers might show their disapproval of the wholesale destruction of our basswood or linden timber by resolutely refusing to buy sections made of that wood. The four-piece sections, if well made, are preferable to the one-piece. The latter do not keep their shape as firmly as the four-piece sections, which are made with lock joints at all the corners. [Illustration: Fig. 57.--Super with sections and section holders in place: A, super; D, separator; E, sections; F, follower; G, wedge. (From Gleanings.)]