112 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Conversations ^vith Doolittle 



At Borodino, New York. 



LOOK AFTER THE COMBS. 



" Last fall I had many colonies weak in 

 bees, so I doubled them up until I thought 

 all were strong enough for winter. How 

 can I best preserve these combs till I wish 

 them for use again? Would new comb be 

 preferable to the old, no matter how good 

 and straight the old combs are ? " 



It is best to keep a careful lookout for 

 every bit of wax in the shape of burr-combs 

 and brace-combs, and all scrapings of hon- 

 ey-boards, frames, and hives. All combs 

 which are crooked, or which have been dam- 

 aged through breakage or from mice, should 

 be rendered into wax. When saving out 

 these pieces, it should be borne in mind that 

 the choice comb is so valuable that its de- 

 struction shouldn't be entered upon hastily. 



In order to determine the worth of nice 

 stx'aight worker combs, it is well to remem- 

 ber that many experienced beekeepers tliink 

 it very profitable to purchase full sheets of 

 comb foundation at the rate of ten cents per 

 frame. Tliis, added to the cost of transpor- 

 tation, and the time required to wire and 

 fasten the foundation in the frames, would 

 make the cost of a frame filled at least 13 

 cents. The same frame filled with a good 

 worker comb is certainly worth as much, 

 and in my opinion more. The wax that 

 can be gotten from it would hardly bring 

 6 cents, and this must still be discounted on 

 account of the labor involved by way of 

 rendering and cleaning the wax. My con- 

 clusion is that combs in an eight-frame 

 Langstroth hive are worth at least 50 cents 

 more for use as combs than they are for the 

 purpose of wax. To my mind it is worth 

 while to know (when one has frames of nice 

 worker comb wliich can not presently be 

 made use of by the bees) how to keep them 

 in a good state of preservation. Mice and 

 the lai'vae of the wax-moth are the enemies 

 that work the most destruction where the 

 combs are kept in a warm dry place ; and if 

 kept cold and damp, the mold and soured 

 pollen come in as deteriorating influences. 

 To guard against the deterioration or de- 

 struction of combs, I have experimented 

 quite largely, and recommend the following: 



If one has a bee-cellar that is mouse- 

 proof, and cool and dry, the hives of comb 

 can be set therein with every assurance that 

 they will keep well. But any warm damp 

 cellar is to be avoided, lest the combs be- 

 come moldy with soured pollen. It appears 

 that a somewhat high temperature is nec- 

 essary for the propagation of wax-moths, 

 for I have never known them to breed in 



combs placed in a cellar that is fit for them 

 to occupy; and therefore I feel it safe to 

 say that any good cool dry cellar would be 

 a sure protection against the moths; and if 

 such a cellar is not already mouse-proof it 

 can be made so without any great amount 

 of work. By placing hives of combs over 

 strong colonies of bees as soon as the warm 

 season opens, so that the bees can have free 

 access to them, neither mice nor moths will 

 be able to touch them. From one to six 

 hives of empty combs can be given to good 

 colonies. Precaution only need be taken 

 that no more hives be given than the bees 

 will go through in sufficient number to go 

 over all the combs. When any one can use 

 strong colonies for this purpose, it is the 

 safest and best method; for the bees not 

 only protect the combs completely, but also 

 clean them to a very gi'eat extent, so tliat 

 they are put in better condition for preser- 

 vation by other methods. It is not practical 

 to store combs over colonies when working 

 for comb honey. In such a case the combs 

 would have to be removed at the beginning 

 of the honey-flow, else no good section hon- 

 ey could be obtained. But where working 

 for extracted honey, they can be used, or the 

 filled or partly filled combs resei'ved for 

 feeding purposes for either fall or spring. 

 But the way I have used the most of 

 them, and which has pleased me the best, 

 and a way which has proven entirely effec- 

 tive against the moths, is to hang my combs 

 up to the light and air with a space of from 

 11/2 to 2 inches between each comb and its 

 neighbor. Especially is this the best way 

 for all combs which have had brood reared 

 in them till they have become toughened by 

 the cocoons accumulating from many gen- 

 erations of brood. Such combs are most 

 freely used by the moths. If the combs are 

 new, and of clean white wax, the light seems 

 to have a deteriorating effect upon them, 

 causing them to become brittle, and to break 

 or crumble when handled, though the bees 

 seem to use them as well as ever during hot 

 weather. Knowing how well combs keep 

 when stored in this way, and for practical 

 convenience in following this plan, racks 

 to support them were made in my shop 

 overhead. These were placed so as to admit 

 freely the lop-bars of my frames. Windows 

 were i^laced conveniently for light a>nd air; 

 and by using screens, neither bees nor mill- 

 ers could have access to these combs. These 

 racks, being so far from the floor or any 

 otiier accessbile place for mice, afford an 

 ideal place for keeping all combs not in use. 



