238 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 



"^1 years. A. F. Brown, Jacksonville, 

 Fla. 



Let me close this series of reminis- 

 cences by wishing to each of my read- 

 ers that he or she may remain a con- 

 stant reader of the "Old Reliable " for 

 50 years to come. 



Perfect Combs 



BY D. M. MACDONALD. 



ONE of the most valuable assets in 

 an apiary is a complete set of 

 perfectly built combs. It is grand 

 to possess ten combs, flat as a board, 

 in every hive. Let every cell in all 

 these combs be worker-cells. There 

 should be no thick and thin parts, no 

 twists and waves in any single comb. 

 Every one should be perfectly inter- 

 changeable. When a comb is laid flat 

 on the work bench, it should show no 

 heights and hollows, no long deep cells 

 and no short shallow ones. All should 

 approximate the natural depth of a cell. 

 There should be no transition cells, all 

 should be of a true hexagonal form. 

 All of us should have an ideally perfect 

 comb to work up to, and all failing to 



snaps, thus causing serious defects to 

 arise. 



The heat of the hive is at times ex- 

 cessive, the weight of bees may be too 

 heavy, the wiring may prove defective, 

 the sheet may be badly fixed, the qual- 

 ity of the wax may be uncertain — -all 

 these and many more points may affect 

 the degree of perfection attained by the 

 bees. A craze may seize the workers 

 in favor of securing some drone-cells, 

 also the weather conditions may lead 

 to defective building, while the nature 

 of the flow may prejudicially afTect it. 

 The quicker the brood-nest is con- 

 structed the better. A poor flow leads 

 to loitering and scamped work. While 

 the degree of perfection may thus de- 

 pend on the weather, the flow or the 

 bees, the beekeeper himself in nine 

 cases out of ten is the chief transgres- 

 sor; perhaps more frequently from 

 want of thought or want of knowledge 

 than from any desire to neglect his 

 work. Foundation as now manufac- 

 tured is so nearly perfect, frames, wir- 

 ing outfits, and systems of fixing have 

 reached so high a degree of excellence 

 that, when rightly manipulated, almost 

 all defects have been well nigh elimi- 

 nated, but in spite of all this, defective 



Apiary of J. B. Holsinger. of Johnstown. Pa., packed in winter cases 



combs will obtrude themselves. 



Avoid drone-comb. Not only is their 

 presence in the hive not anything like 

 an asset, but they are encumbrances, 

 nuisances, and even a detriment when 

 working for honey. Drones not only 

 fail to provide in anyway for their own 

 support, but are a heavy drain on the 

 stores laboriously collected by the 4 

 workers. In general, foundation all- 

 worker-cell base eliminates them. Even 

 when starters are used in frames when 

 hiving swarms, if the space is con- 

 tracted, only six frames being provided 

 for a time, drone-comb can be hin- 

 dered. Practically, the first ten days 

 after hiving, bees construct only 

 worker-comb, and, if there is a good 

 flow on, the above number of combs 

 should be fully constructed in that 

 time. 



During a second period of ten days 

 bees readily build drone-comb, but this 

 can be avoided by giving frames with 

 full sheets of foundation to complete 

 the number desired. In this case place 

 the latter frames not outside towards 

 the hive sides, but near the center, be- 

 tween the flattest faced combs available. 

 When renewing combs in any estab- 

 lished colony, full sheeted frames should 

 always be supplied, as otherwise bees 

 would invariably build only drone- 

 comb. Age alone is no true criterion 

 by which to guage the value of combs. 

 Some may last double the time others 

 may. It is generally advisable to renew 

 a certain percentage of the works after 

 some years' use. This should be done 

 systematically and on a set principle. 



A good plan is to shift all defective 

 combs to the right side of the brood 

 next to the dummy. Then during 

 spring cleaning, when they have been 

 cleared of honey, they can be with- 

 drawn and run down into wax. To 

 renew them, and make certain they 

 will be replaced by combs well and 

 truly built, requires enlightened care. 

 The best place to have them drawn out 

 is in a super during a full honey flow. 

 Almost every cell will be worker size, 

 and the combs will be flat as a board 

 all over the surface. The next best 

 place is in a rather weak colony pos- 

 sessed of just so many bees that they 

 can be induced to build. A fairly 

 strong nucleus may be a good substi- 

 tute. In both cases the work is almost 



approach this ideal should be rigorously 

 discarded. 



The beekeeper has it largely in his 

 own hands to secure this high point of 

 perfection. An irregularly placed hive 

 tends to create irregular building; 

 therefore, hives into which swarms are 

 run should be laid down with their 

 stands on a dead level. This small 

 item is worth attention. Every frame 

 should be nailed up with every angle a 

 right angle. Then they should be hung 

 truly perpendicular. They must be very 

 accurately spaced at \'A inches, or bet- 

 ter, 1 9-20 inches. It goes without say- 

 ing, that when worker-cells are desired, 

 full sheets of foundation, embossed 

 with worker-cell bases, should be used. 

 It is often presumed that under normal 

 circumstance, well-nigh 100 percent 

 should be obtained, but this is a fallacy, 

 as experience teaches us that rarely is 

 such perfection attained. Brood foun- 

 dation can so easily be affected by ex- 

 tremes of heat or cold that it readily 

 buckles, stretches, twists, or at times 



Apiary of J. B. Holsinger on July 4. i'n6. What a difference between the summer and 

 winter view of the same apiary 



