276 



THF BEE-KEEPERS' REVia^W. 



no one of our Medina folks could tell the 

 difference between combs of honey built 

 from drawn foundation and that from the 

 ordinary product. We knew Mr. Doolittle 



to be a very careful and conscientious ob- 

 server, and set about to discover lohy he 

 should have such a different result. Thh 

 drawn foundation we sent to him arrived 

 near the close of his season; or, at leash Mr. 

 Salisbury, living within thirty miles of him, 

 and to whom we sent a similar lot on the 

 same day, reported that the season was fast 

 waning. 



good. No. 2 is also a sample of worker 

 comb built wholly by the bees. But you 

 will observe that its walls, and especially its 

 bases, are very much heavier than those of 

 No. 1 But No. 2 was built after the honey- 

 flow, and at a time when the bees had 

 plenty of leisure to put in a surplus of wax. 

 No. 3 .is an ordinary specimen of drone 



comb built during.fhe flow of honey, and, 

 as we have before shown, the bases are con- 

 siderably heavier than iu the case of No. 1. 

 No. 4 is a sample of deep-cell (or drawn) 

 foundation from the latest dies, before the 

 bees had done any work on it. No. 5 is the 

 same foundation drawn out enuring the hon- 

 ey flow. But you will notice, somewhat at 

 variance to our experience previously re- 

 ported, the bees thickened the bases a trifle, 

 and also thinned the walls near the top 

 edges. No. 6 is comb built from drawn 

 foundation, as shown at 4, but it was drawn 

 out when the honey-flow was waning, and 

 the bees liad more time to chink in a sur- 

 plus of wax. just as they do in case of their 

 own natural product, as shown in No. 2. 



Well, in going over our sections of comb 

 honey from drawn foundation we finally 

 found some specimens that had heavier 

 bases or midribs than some other lots th^t 

 we had been testing, and which seemed to be 

 all right. In order to get a better cro-s- 

 sectional view of them they were placed in 

 plaster casts, as were also pieces of worker 

 comb built wholly by the bees, natural-built 



drone comb, drawn foundation before it had 

 been in the hive, and another specimen after 

 the bees had worked it out. Cross-sections 

 were taken of each, and the results repro- 

 duced in halt-tone. No. 1 shows natural 

 worker comb without foundation of any 

 sort; but it was when the honey-Huw was 



It will be noticed in this connection that 

 there are times when bees make much 

 heavier walls and bases in their comb- 

 builiimer than at otiiers, and that those 

 times vary accordixig to the strength of the 

 honey-flow, whether it is on iu full tilast, is 

 waning, or has stopped altt)gether. Bearing 

 in mind these facts, it is easy to reconcile 

 why Mr. Doolittle should have secured dif- 

 ferent results from those obtained by us. 

 When we placed our deep-cell foundation on 

 the hive, it was during the time when honey 

 was coming in well; and it would seem, 

 therefore, the bees used, with slight modi- 



