1 6 te iii-Vf; if « i: II -1- W ic KM t i fr'h % 



bees, as sixm as llic\- dare U> intrmk- the inside of the lii\e. 



2. Wax Secretion and Comb-Building. 



Our trihe nf bee exeels vicUifica, as it seems tn ine, in the ability of 

 wax-secretiiiii. Their habit to lea\'e tlieir nest at trille- ubstaclcs seems to 

 stand in conueclinn witli this ai>ih'l>- of tiie :.killfiil buil<ler>; the cell wall of 

 tlic eonibs is L;na\\n down when not satisfied and the old shallow comb-cells 

 are vcr)- often found left unused. In this regard the\- stand in contrast to 

 iiicllificci which an- extreniel}" tenaeious to take care- fir the preservation and 

 utilization of an\- conilis. Peculiar it is that they ai-e \er\- often bearint; in 

 their wax pockets wax scales con.sidcrablv thick, more' than I mm in 

 thickness, l)ulL;in;4 outward the coveriat; ])lates, whiii- this is not so common 

 in imilijica. 



If supplied with fxid, our bees build combs re.idily in the \'.arm climate 

 when no honey is ciiniint^' in from natural sources. The newly built combs are 

 white or j'ellow in color and rcLjular in shape and arrangement and of freshy 

 appearance. The cell wall of the new comb is si thia that it is onl)' ^jl n 

 in thickness. The bees do not use propolis. Thc_\- dis'-egard mellific combs, 

 when gi\-en to them, but use often as those of honey or sometimes as those 

 for the drone brood. The comli foun iations of mellific t\'[ic are usually also 

 disregardetl, but rarely utili/.etl by them, buikiiny u\) tlie cells narrowing the cell 

 mouths ; thus intermediate froms of cells arc left here and there between the 

 groups of the narrowed ones. 



In the followings tabic I ha\-e endea\oured to compare the \'alue of 3 

 diameters of one cell in the Japanese bee with those in mellifica 



TABLE III. 



