FASTENING FOUNDATION IN SECTIONS.
The use of comb foundation in full sheets filling each section as nearly as possible is considered a necessity in the production of fancy comb honey. This foundation should be as thin as can be used without being gnawed or torn down by the bees. The sheet of foundation is usually fastened centrally at the top of the section, leaving only enough space at the sides to allow it to swing freely without binding and about three-sixteenths to one-fourth inch at the bottom to allow for stretching while being drawn out. To secure better attachment of the comb to the bottom of the section, a bottom starter about five-eighths inch wide may be used. In this case the top starter should reach to within three-sixteenths to one-fourth inch of the bottom starter. In some localities the character of the flow is such that but little is gained by the use of the bottom starter, while in other localities it is difficult to produce honey that will stand shipment well without it.
The various types of apparatus usually used for fastening foundation in the sections make use of a heated metal plate which, after melting the edge of the sheet of foundation, is withdrawn, allowing the melted edge to be brought quickly in contact with the section. This fastens one edge of the sheet of foundation firmly to the wood. Foundation fasteners employing this principle may be simply a hand apparatus consisting of a metal plate of proper size provided with a handle, the operator transferring the tool from the source of heat to the edge of the foundation. Or the principle may be incorporated in a more or less complex machine which provides for the maintenance of the proper temperature of the heated plate, its movement to melt the edge of the foundation and a proper support for the section and foundation during the process. For the purpose of securing better filled sections of honey various methods of attaching the sheet of foundation to the sides as well as the top of the section have been devised, but are not extensively used by producers. Among these methods are fitting the sheet of foundation in place, then directing a fine stream of melted wax along its edges, or the use of split sections in which a sheet of foundation is continuous through a row of sections, extending through their sides and top.
Some super construction is such that the sections may be placed directly into the super by the operator who puts in the foundation. This work is usually done during the winter months when the bees require no special attention. Enough supers should be provided to take care of the largest possible crop, even though it is not often that all are used the same season. The beekeeper who is operating several apiaries can not afford to take time to prepare supers for the bees during a good honey flow. Supers of sections thus prepared in advance should be kept clean by storing them in piles and keeping the piles covered from dust.
[MANIPULATION OF THE BEES.]
It is important to note that there are four essential factors entering into the securing of a crop of honey: (1) A sufficient amount of bloom of healthy and well-nourished nectar-secreting plants growing in sou to which they are adapted and within range of the apiary. (2) Weather conditions favorable to nectar secretion and bee flight. (3) A large number of workers in excess of those needed for the routine work of the colony. (4) Conditions of the colony making the storing instinct dominant. If any one of these factors is absent, the effect of the other three is immediately nullified, and the amount of honey secured will vary as these factors are present at the same time in greater or less degree or as the time during which they are all present is longer or shorter. It is therefore possible to have each of these factors present at some time during the season without securing a crop of honey and the period of time during which they are all present at the same time is usually quite short.
Grouping the first and second factors we have a combination usually spoken of as the locality and season. These factors are largely beyond the control of the beekeeper except as he may choose a location in which both are usually present at some time or times during the season, may take advantage of the plants of several locations by practising migratory beekeeping, or may improve a given locality by directly or indirectly increasing the amount of nectar-secreting plants, such as buckwheat, alsike clover, sweet clover, or alfalfa.
Grouping the third and fourth factors we have conditions capable of being brought about by manipulation and for which the beekeeper is more directly responsible. The beekeeper's skill therefore lies in supplying and maintaining these factors throughout the short period during which the bees may store more than they consume. He should know which plants may be expected to furnish the nectar for his crop of honey, that his various manipulations may be properly timed. It should be noted that the shorter the duration of the honey flow, the greater becomes the necessity of having the colonies in proper condition at its beginning and keeping them so until its close. However lavish nature may be with the secretion of nectar and fine weather, it is of little avail if the beekeeper fails to secure a large force of workers to gather and store his crop or, even having provided workers, if he fails to keep his forces together and contented, bending all their energy in the one direction of gathering and storing honey. It is a common occurrence among inexperienced beekeepers to have the colonies become strong enough to work in the supers only after the flowers have ceased blooming or to see strong colonies during a good honey flow doing nothing in the supers simply because conditions are not such as to make the storing instinct dominant.
So far as the skill of the beekeeper is concerned in the production of the crop of honey in a given location, every manipulation of the season should be directed (1) toward securing the greatest possible number of vigorous workers at the proper time, and (2) keeping the entire working force of each colony together and contentedly at work throughout the given honey flow.