How To Protect Comb Honey From Moth Damage

Carbon di-sulphide (commonly called HIGH LIFE) is about the only fumigant to use on comb honey but this requires a tight room and it is inflammable and very explosive. High Life is available at most drug stores in a liquid form in one pound tin cans and being heavier than air and volatile it is poured into a dish placed over a stack of supers in a tight room.

This is the way beeway sections fit in the section holders. The sections set on slotted slats which are nailed to the end blocks to make up the section holders. Each row of sections is separated by thin pieces of boards 1/10 inch thick, known as wood separators. Strips of sheet iron are nailed across the bottom of the ends of the supers for the section holders to rest upon and the whole assembly is clamored closely together with three super springs which are forced between the last separator and the inside of the super. A few beekeepers use top and bottom starters but most now use split sections and drop in a full sheet of wax and the job is finished.

Bee Escapes

Bee escapes fit into the center hole in the inner cover and were formerly used extensively in freeing section supers of bees. Now section honey production is very low and few escapes are used for freeing extracting supers of bees because this is now largely done with acid boards which are much faster to use.

In The Summer Of The First Year

When the clovers are through blooming in the summer you should remove all of the honey from the hive that is sealed over, after first examining the brood nest to see how much honey remains. In any case leave 40 to 50 pounds of honey on the hive. In most locations very little nectar is gathered during July and much of August and if you remove too much honey the colony may starve or get down so low that the wax worms will take over.

Most late summer and fall honey is darker in color and stronger in flavor than the spring and early summer honey. This honey does not sell well on the retail market, in fact, this honey should not be extracted or removed from the hive unless you are sure that there is a demand for this certain type of honey. Normally you should plan on drawing out new combs on these late honey flows and leave the honey for the bees to winter on.

In the second year with your bees you will need one more hive body for the brood nest. If you have your colonies strong and are blessed with a good late summer or fall flow, that is the time to get your comb foundation drawn out and we hope filled with honey also. If you are successful in doing this you should leave both of these hive bodies filled with honey and pollen for the bees to winter on.

If you do not get the second hive body at least partially filled with honey you should remove it but you should be sure that the bottom hive body is jammed full of honey and pollen, 75 pounds or more. The next spring it will be advisable to put on a hive body at the beginning of the honey flow and permit the queen to expand into this so as to have a double brood nest.

The beginner, starting with package bees, may use only one hive body for a brood nest but the second year a double brood nest should be used. Even big colonies need feeding in late cold spring weather. A great deal of equipment is required so that the bees can process the nectar and keep bringing in more.