Beginner's bee book by Pellett Frank C. (Frank Chapman) 1879-1951

Author:Pellett, Frank C. (Frank Chapman), 1879-1951
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bees
Publisher: Philadelphia, London, J. B. Lippincott company
Published: 1919-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

Fig. 12.—Full sheet of foundation in wired frame, ready for the bees.

where narrow strips are used. Not only are the combs hkely to be composed mostly of drone cells, but they are likely to be uneven, which makes them undesirable. Uneven combs cannot readily be exchanged, and much time is also lost in uncapping or manipulating them. The bees will always build some drone cells

in the best regulated hives, and a small number are not objectionable. The presence of some drones is necessary to insure the mating of young queens, but there is little danger that there will be a shortage for this purpose under normal conditions. Where full sheets of foundation are used, small clusters of drone cells are often built in the corners or at the ends.

If combs are damaged in any way, the tendency is always to repair them with cells of the larger size. Mice are fond of gnawing the combs and where the hive entrances are left wide open in winter, they are likely to enter and cause much damage. If the mice do not disturb the bees to the point where the colony will perish before spring, there will still be much damage to the combs. The portions that are rebuilt the following season will usually be composed of drone cells.

The writer is not only convinced that it pays to use full sheets of foundation in the brood

chamber, but fully believes that without them honey production is seldom profitable. That he practices what he preaches is evidenced by the fact that as this is written he is just finishing the preparation of more than twelve hundred frames of full sheets for use in one small apiary to replace discarded combs, and to provide reserve extracting combs. Without a large working force, big crops can never be harvested. The rearing of several thousand worthless drones to consume the honey, take the attention of the workers and get in the way generally, does not tend in this direction.

FouNDATiox IX Sections. —Some kind of starter is absolutely essential to getting the bees started to work in the comb-honey supers. It is very common practice to use a three-cornered piece of thin foundation no more than two inches across and sometimes much smaller. It is difficult for the bees to work to advantage on such small starters. Full sheets which lack

BEGINNER'S BEE BOOK

not more than a quarter of an inch of reaching the bottom or sides are much more economical, for they furnish the bees with a svtfficient

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