OR, MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 



185 



be separated by dissolving the wax ; which may be done by 

 putting- it in boiling alcohol, or, better still, by use of the solar 

 wax-extractor. Such comb need not be discarded, for if com- 

 posed of worker-cells it is still very valuable for breeding pur- 

 poses, and should not be destroyed till the cells are too small 

 for long service, which will not occur till after many years of 

 use. The function, then, of the wax, is to make comb and 



Fig. 



Botiey-Comb Coral. —Original. 



caps for the honey-cells, and, combined with pollen, to form 

 queen-cells (Fig. 78, d) and caps for the brood-cells. 



A very common fossil found in many parts of the Eastern 

 and Northern United States is, from its appearance, often 

 called petrified honey-comb. We have many such specimens 

 in our museum. In some cases the cells are hardly larger 

 than a pin-head ; in others a quarter of an inch in diameter. 

 These (Figs. 79, 80) are not fossil honey-comb as many are led 

 to believe, though the resemblance is so striking that no won- 



