BEES-WAX AND ITS ECONOMICAL USES. 7 



the proportion from 13 to 1, Dr. Donhoff from 14J to 1, 

 and Cowan estimates the production of wax at 20 to 1. 

 Bat 20 Ibs. of honey are worth 20 shillings, while for 

 1 Ib. of wax one gets only 2 shillings.* The intelligent 

 bee-keeper will see by these figures how valuable good 

 combs are. 



It is to the interest of every bee-keeper to try and 

 protect his combs from the ravages of the wax-moths. 

 These moths, of which there is a large and a small 

 kind (Galleria cereana, Galleria alvearia) lay their eggs 

 in the combs, or in the debris of the bee-hives. It is the 

 larvaB which hatch from these eggs that spin webs round 

 the comb and eat it. It is specially the large kind of 

 larvae that very much increase the difficulty of pre- 

 serving the combs. The right way to get rid of them, 

 or to kill them, consists in hanging up your frames of 

 comb in hermetically sealed boxes, and in warm weather 

 to burn a piece of sulphur in it every three or four weeks. 

 The ravages of the wax-moth may also be prevented 

 by hanging up the combs and exposing them to a current 

 of air. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



There came a time when the bees did not satisfy the 

 needs of the bee-keeper as regards accuracy in building 

 the rows of comb, and their habit of beginning to build 

 their comb on the edges and the sides gave some bee- 

 keepers the idea of providing the centre of the under side 

 of top bar with a sharply projecting strip of wood (Giebel- 

 hausen and Bottner). A line of wax was also recom- 

 mended (Dr. Honert). The bees were to build regularly 

 upon it. Sometimes they did, but more often they did 

 not. Tongs were also prepared which made impressions 

 of the cells on little pieces of wood (Wilde). 



* Recent experiments of Mr. G. de Layens show that, under 

 certain favourable conditions, bees may only consume 6*3 Ibs. of 

 honey to produce 1 Ib. of comb ; so that at least 10 to 16 Ibs. of 

 honey may be reckoned as necessary under ordinary circum- 

 stances for the production of 1 Ib. of comb. T. W. C. 



