HONEYCOMB. 



270 



HONEY-COMB. 



BEES LIVING ON COMBS BUILT IN THE OPEN AlK. 



but for ;ill that, they skip about from one 

 cell to another in the same way, no one bee 

 working in the same spot to exceed a min- 

 ute or two, at the very outside. Very fre- 

 (luently, after one has bent a piece of wax a 

 certain way, the next tii)S it in the opposite 

 direction, and so on until completion; but 

 after all have given it a twist and a pull, it 

 is found in pretty nearly the riglit spot. As 

 nearly as we can discover, they moisten the 

 thin ribbinis of wax witli some sort of fluid 

 or saliva. As the bee always preserves the 

 thick rib or rim of the comb it is working, 

 the looker-on would suppose it was making 

 the walls of considerable thickness; but if 

 we drive it away, and break this rim, we 

 shall lind that its mandibles liave come so 

 nearly together that the wax between them, 

 beyond the rim, is almost as thin as tissue 

 paper. In building natural comb, of course 

 the bottoms of the cells are tliinned in the 

 same way, as the work goes along, before 

 any side walls are made at all. 



When no foundaticm is furnished, little 

 l)atches of comb are started at different points, 

 as shown in the engraving, p. 2(58. Then as 

 these patches enlarge, their edges are united 

 so perfectly that it is sometimes diMicult, 

 when the frame is hlled solid, to determine 

 wlure the pieces wei'e united, so perfect is 



the work. At other times there is, iierhaps, 

 a row of irregular or drt)ne cells along the 

 line of the union. 



The midrib of natural comb becomes 

 thicker as it approaclies the line of support 

 and tapers toward the l)ottom. Why this is 

 so is evident. That there sliould be a grad- 

 ual gradation in thickness from top to bot- 

 tom seems wonderful when we remember 

 the hap-hazard, skip-about work on the part 

 of so many different bees. 



now TO GET BEES TO BUILD WORKER COMB 

 OFF FROM STARTERS OF FOUNDATION. 



While we always recommend l)ee-keepers 

 to use full sheets of worker foundation be- 

 cause the laising of drone comb and drone 

 brood is an unnecessary waste, yet it very 

 often happens that a bee-keeper runs short 

 of foundation just when it is impossible to 

 get another shipment in time, and therefore 

 the knowledge of how to get the bees to 

 build all worker comb from mere starters is 

 important. Mr. E. D. Townsend, of Remus, 

 Mich., to whom reference has been made 

 elsewhere in this work, in an article for 

 (Ucaninqs in Bee Culture for Aug. 1, 1909, 

 which we here reproduce, explains the con- 

 ditions under which bees will build all- 



