JO Sept. . 191-.] 



nt'c-kccpiHii ill Viitoria. 



529 



BEE-KEEPING IN VICTORIA. 



{Coiifiiiiicd from page 477.) 



/•'. A'. Hen line, Bee Kxptrt. 



Part VII 1. — The L'se of Comb-foundation. 

 Cumb-foundation is the base or nii(lril> of the comljs in the frames of 

 the modern bee-hive. It consists of a thin sheet of l)ees\\ax impressed on 

 h)Oth sides with the shape of the basis of the cells of honey-comb, and is 

 supi)lied to the liees with the object of obtaining a larger yield of honey 

 than would be possible were they allowed to build their combs in their own 

 w.i\ . The better results obtained by the use of full sheets of comb-founda- 

 tion, instead of a comb-guide or narrow strip of embossed wax, are due to 

 three factors: — i. A stronger force of worker bees and very few drones. 



2. The faster building of the combs for brood and the storage of honey. 



3. Stranger and straighter combs. 



I. Stronger Colonies. 



Bv the use of full sheets of comb-foundation, the numl)er of worker 

 3>ees is greatly increased, and the number of drones reduced to a minimum, 



FIG. I. COMB BUILT FROM STARTER. NEARLY ALL DRONE CELLS. 



and as the former are producers and the latter c msumers onlv. the profits 

 of bee-keeping depend to a very large extent upon the ratio of worker bees 

 to drones, and this is best regulated by the prevention of the l)uilding of 

 ■drone-comb. The combs built by bees consist of two kinds of cells, one 

 1-5 inch in diameter, and known as worker cells, the other j inch, called 

 drone cells, the former being the cradle of the worker bee. the latter that of 

 the drone. 



In a state of nature a large percentage of the comli consists <>i drone 

 -cells, and immense numbers of drones are raised, a provision of nature to 

 insure the fertilization of the queen from one hive bv a drone from another 

 colony, which, when bees are in their wild state, is often a considerable 

 distance away. In the meeting of the sexes, which alwavs takes place in 

 the air often a considerable distance from the hives, a further safeguard 

 against inbreeding is the aversion of the voung queen to drones which come 

 from her own hive, and have the same family odour. When a number of 

 -colonies occur close together, as in an apairy, the necessity of large numbers 

 of drones ceases, as a limited numl)er are alwavs raised in each liive. Not- 



