Gleanines in Bee Culture 



the activities of their Ufe, for] here Is^at 

 once a pantry, kitchen, incubator, nursery, 

 living-room, and bedroom for them all. 



But let us investigate our comb a little 

 more. First we shall probably notice that 

 there are at least two different sizes of cells 

 — one series in ttie upper part of the frame, 

 running about five to the inch; another 

 kind, generally in the lower half of the 

 comb, that are a little larger, running about 

 four to the inch. In the smaller cells the 

 worker bees are raised; in the larger ones the 

 drones, which are the males, spend their 

 days of infancy. Both kinds of cells are 

 used when necessary as storage for food. In 

 a well-managed hive the worker cells vastly 

 predominate; in fact, all good bee-keepers 

 strive to keep the drone-cells to the lowest 

 possible number. Drones are essential to 

 the welfare of the apiary; but an unlimited 

 quantity of them means a waste of valuable 

 space and food, for they are consumers only. 

 Fig. 5 shows the two kinds of cells side by 

 side. 



We will now proceed to examine the next 

 frame; but first we will dispose of this one 

 by setting it on the ground, leaning it 

 against the side of the hive. As before, we 

 will break the gluing between the frames. 

 Since it is May it is probable the colony is 

 strong enough to cover six frames, so that 

 this one may have thousands of bees on 

 both sides, while the weight suggests that 

 the cells contain something. They do, for 

 the center of the comb is filled with young 

 bees in all stages — eggs, larvte, and sealed 

 brood. These are surrounded by a band of 



Fig. 3.— The quilt removed. 



Fig. 4. — Lifting out the first comb. 



pollen, about an inch or two wide, while 

 outside of that, especially at the top and 

 ends, is honey — quite a neat arrangement, 

 you see, so as to have every thing handy — 

 nursery in the center, with the food all 

 round about. But, stop a minute. All 

 the other frames are arranged exactly 

 the same way; so think a little, and 

 you will realize that the brood-nest is a 

 ball, with, of course, the most brood in 

 the center frame, the least at the sides. 

 Now you will understand why you 

 should not disturb the order of the 

 frames when you examine a hive, as 

 changing the arrangement will upset 

 the brood-nest. If you never set more 

 than one frame outside of the hive you 

 will avoid the chance of misplacing the 

 frames. 



SHAKING BEES OFF THE COMBS. 



May be the comb is so thickly c v- 

 ered with bees that careful inspection 

 is impossible, in which case hold the 

 frame above the hive; raise it slowly 

 about a foot, then lower it quickly, fin- 

 ishing up with a sudden jerk, when 

 jiractically every insect will drop on the 

 frames below. 



Fig. 6 shows the position of the 

 frame at the end of the operation. It is 

 not considered wise to shake the queen 

 off the combs at the season when she 

 is laying heavily. Another way, which 

 I prefer, is to hold the frame perpen- 

 dicularly by the end of the top-bar with 

 the left hand, then with the right hand 

 clenched hit the left a smart blow^ from 

 above (Fig. 7). The comb being free 

 from bees, turn your back to the sun 



