224 



July, 191G. 



American He^ Journal 



ner. 



Aside from the drone cells, there Is 

 also much difficulty in getting smooth 

 combs all the way down, with narrow 

 starters. Figure 3 shows such a 

 comb that is not only composed most- 

 ly of drone cells, but also is so uneven 

 as to be a bother in uncapping or 

 nianipulatiiig. 



The bees will always build some 

 drone comb in the best requlated 

 hives and a small amount is not ob- 

 jectional. A few drones are neces- 

 sary, of course, to fertilize the young 

 queens that emerge during the season, 

 but there is little danger that there 

 will ever be a shortage for that pur- 

 pose under normal conditions. Fig- 

 ure 4 shows how the bees will build 

 small clusters of drone cells at the 

 ends and corners of full sheets of 

 foundation. Most of the surface, how- 

 ever, is occupied by worker brood. 



If combs are damaged in any way 

 the tendency is always to repsir them 

 with cells of the larger size. Mice 



FIG. 2.- 



• FRAME WHICH CONTAINS MOSTLY DRONE-BROOD-RESULT OF 

 NARROW STARTER 



are occupied so much more readily, 

 drawn so much quicker and filled so 

 much more evenly that there Is no 

 question of the economy of full sheets 

 in the sections. However, the use of 

 full sheets in the brood nest is a vital 

 matter, fo'- without a large working 

 force, big crops can never be harvest- 

 ed. The rearing of several thousand 

 worthless drones, to consume the hon- 

 ey, take the attention of the workers 

 and get in the way generally, does 

 not tend in this direction. 



FIG. 3.-COMBS BUILT WITH LESS THAN FULL SHEETS NOT ONLY CONTAIN 

 MUCH DRONE-COMB. BU I ARE IRREGULAR AS WELL 



are fond of gnawing the combs, and 

 where the entrances are left large 

 enough in winter, they are likely to 

 enter the hive and cause a lot of dam- 

 age. Figure 5 shows an extracting 

 comb that has been injured by these 

 little animals. If the injury is slight, 

 as in this case, it will not pay to 

 destroy the comb. However, it is 

 likely to be repaired in the same 

 manner as was the one shown at Fig. 

 6. Figure 7 shows another that 

 has been repaired with the larger 

 cells and utilized by the queen so 

 that at the time the picture was taken 

 the repaired portion was filled with 

 sealed drone brood. 



I am convinced not only that it 

 pays to use full sheets of foundation, 

 but also, that without it honey pro- 

 duction can never be profitable. 

 That I practice what 1 preach is 

 evident by the fact that I am just 

 finishing putting in 1200 full sheets 

 for use in one small apiary, in re- 

 placing discarded combs and provid- 

 ing reserve extracting combs. 



The use of full sheets of foundation 

 in the sections is also much more 

 common than formerly. The sections 



More Bees or Greater Intensity? 



.\RTHUR C. MILLER. 



THE question has been put to me as 

 to whether we should work for 

 decreased cost of production or 

 increased per colony yield ? It is a 

 good question, and is one which every 

 producer should ask himself and ulti- 

 mately will have largely to decide for 

 himself. 







FIG. 4.-DRONE-CELLS IN LOWER CORNER BUILT ON FULL SHEETS 



