In producing comb honey it is even more necessary to know the plants which produce surplus honey, and just when they come in bloom, than it is in extracted honey production. The colony should be so manipulated that the maximum field force is ready for the beginning of the flow. This requires care in spring management, and, above all, the prevention of swarming. Supers should be put on just before the heavy flow begins. A good indication of the need of supers is the whitening of the brood combs at the top. If the bees are in two hive bodies they should generally be reduced to one, and the frames should be filled with brood and honey so that as the new crop comes in the bees will carry it immediately to the sections above. If large hives are used for the brood chamber it is often advisable to remove some of the frames and use a division board to crowd the bees above. To prevent the queen from going into the sections to lay, a sheet of perforated zinc ([fig. 23]) may be put between the brood chamber and the super ([fig. 2]).
It is often difficult to get bees to begin work in the small sections, but this should be brought about as soon as possible to prevent loss of honey. If there are at hand some sections which have been partly drawn the previous year, these may be put in the super with the new sections as "bait." Another good plan is to put a shallow extracting frame on either side of the sections. If a few colonies in the apiary that are strong enough to go above refuse to do so, lift supers from some colonies that have started to work above and give them to the slow colonies. The super should generally be shaded somewhat to keep it from getting too hot. Artificial swarming will quickly force bees into the supers.
To produce the finest quality of comb honey full sheets of foundation should be used in the sections. Some bee keepers use nearly a full sheet hung from the top of the section and a narrow bottom starter. The use of foundation of worker-cell size is much preferred.
When one super becomes half full or more and there are indications that there will be honey enough to fill others, the first one should be raised and an empty one put on the hive under it. This tiering up can be continued as long as necessary, but it is advisable to remove filled sections as soon as possible after they are nicely capped, for they soon become discolored and less attractive. Honey removed immediately after capping finds a better market, but if left on the hive even until the end of the summer the quality of the honey is improved. A careful watch must be kept on the honey flow, so as to give the bees only enough sections to store the crop. If this is not done a lot of unfinished sections will be left at the end of the flow. Honeys from different sources should not be mixed in the sections, as it usually gives the comb a bad appearance
To remove bees from sections, the super may be put over a bee escape so that the bees can pass down but can not return, or the supers may be removed and covered with a wire-cloth-cone bee escape.
Fig. 24.—Shipping case for comb honey.
After sections are removed the wood should be scraped free of propolis (bee glue) and then packed in shipping cases ([fig. 24]) for the market. Shipping cases to hold 12, 24, or 48 sections, in which the various styles of sections fit exactly, are manufactured by dealers in supplies. In shipping these cases, several of them should be put in a box or crate packed in straw and paper and handles provided to reduce the chances of breakage. When loaded in a freight car the combs should be parallel with the length of the car.
In preparing comb honey for market it should be carefully graded so that the sections in each shipping case are as uniform as possible. Nothing will more likely cause wholesale purchasers to cut the price than to find the first row of sections in a case fancy and those behind of inferior grade. Grading rules have been adopted by various bee keepers' associations or drawn up by honey dealers. The following sets of rules are in general use: