114 BEGINNER'S BEE BOOK 



in the best regulated hives, and a small number 

 are not objectionable. The presence of some 

 drones is necessary to insure the mating of 

 young queens, but there is little danger that 

 there will be a shortage for this purpose under 

 normal conditions. Where full sheets of foun- 

 dation are used, small clusters of drone cells 

 are often built in the corners or at the ends. 



If combs are damaged in any way, the ten- 

 dency is always to repair them with cells of the 

 larger size. Mice are fond of gnawing the 

 combs and where the hive entrances are left 

 wide open in winter, they are likely to enter and 

 cause much damage. If the mice do not disturb 

 the bees to the point where the colony will per- 

 ish before spring, there will still be much dam- 

 age to the combs. The portions that are rebuilt 

 the following season will usually be composed 

 of drone cells. 



The writer is not only convinced that it pays 

 to use full sheets of foundation in the brood 



