Removing The Honey Crop-Comb Honey

Comb honey is removed by means of an escape board. The escape board is your inner cover with a bee escape placed in the hole in the center. The bee escape allows the bees to go down out of the super but prevents them from returning.

The super to be removed is first placed on top of the colony and given a few quick puffs of smoke to start the bees running down. It is then lifted off the colony and given a few vigorous shakes in front of the hive. The inner cover with the bee escape in place is then placed on top of the hive and the super to be removed placed on top of the inner cover. The outer cover is placed on top of the super, taking care that there is no crack big enough to allow bees an entrance to the super. Usually the bees have completely left the super within 24 hours.

Bulk Comb Honey And Extracted Honey

Bulk comb and extracted honey may be removed by the same process as that described for comb honey. Another way is to take the full supers of honey and brush the bees from each individual comb with a bee brush. For the beginner, either of these two processes will be satisfactory.

Many large commercial beekeepers find it to their advantage to use a repellent such as chemically pure carbolic acid in removing supers of extracted or bulk comb honey. Properly used, carbolic acid saves much time and labor in the commercial apiary.

Robbing

During any period of the year when there is no nectar coming into the hives the bees are apt to rob. The bees from a strong colony will attempt to get into another which is weak in numbers and obtain the honey. Strong colonies in a yard, if given an opportunity, will steal all of the stores of honey of the weaker colony. This usually results in the death of the colony which has been robbed. Weak colonies should have the hive entrance reduced to a minimum in order to discourage robbers. The possibility of robbing is likely just after the honeyflow is over. Because of this, particular care should be taken when removing supers of honey not to get robbing started.

One good way to prevent robbing is the use of cloths dipped in a mixture of water and kerosene and the excess liquid wrung out. The damp cloths are then used to cover the hive and supers while working a colony. Be sure the cloths are damp and not wet enough to drip water and kerosene on the honey.

Worker bees which act as guards are present at the entrance of hives at all times. They detect the presence of and repel bees which do not originate from their own colony. When worker bees are seen flying around the entrance to the hives and being repelled by the guards it is an indication that the bees are trying to rob. Whenever there is an indication of robbing it would be best not to smoke the entrance of a colony before working it. The smoke will disrupt the guard bees and allow robbers to gain an entrance to the colony.

Examination For Disease

Periodical examination of the colony and its brood should be made to protect against brood diseases. This subject is treated in Chapter 14. Suffice to say that while diseases, when they appear, may cause great damage to the colony, the use of disease resistant bees and the use of sulphathiazole, terramycin and fumidil in the colony feedings have done a great deal to keep down the incidence of disease.