316 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



ANSWEH BY JOSHUA BULL. 



Professor Cook in liis Manual of 

 the Apiai'}' says, "'Tliese wax scales 

 are looseuetl by the claws, and 

 carried to the mouth by the ante- 

 rior legs." I don't think they are 

 intentionally allowed to drop out 

 except when they are not wanted 

 for use. No doubt bees sometimes 

 take these wax scales direct from 

 the wax-pockets of each other. 



ANSWER BY G. W. DEMAREE. 



Each knavish fellow snatches 

 the little white scales of wax from 

 its fellow worker. Bees do not 

 often attempt to use the bits of 

 wax after tliey have fallen to the 

 bottom of the hive and become cold 

 and hard. I have never seen a bee 

 use its own wax. It alwa3's takes 

 wax from some worker in its reach. 

 A good observatory hive will dis- 

 close all these thinas. 



ANSWER BV DR. C. C. MILLER. 



I know little about it but what 

 I have read. I can hardly think 

 they are dropped and then gath- 

 ered up, because if such were the 

 case I think we should at times see 

 them more plentiful on the bot- 

 tom-board. Moreover, if bees were 

 in the habit of gathering up these 

 dropped scales we should not be 

 likely to see them thrown out of 

 the liive as we sometimes do. 



ANSWER BY EUGENE SECOR. 



For answer to this query consult 

 some scientific work on bees. 



Common sense would seem to 

 teach that the scales do not "drop 

 out" to be gathered up b}' other 

 bees. Where the scales drop on 

 the bottom of the hive it is proba- 

 bly accidental. If that were the 

 rule where do the scales come from 

 that form the small combs often 

 started on the limbs of trees where 

 swarms have hung for some time ? 



ANSWER BY J. E. POND. 



Wax is a secretion of and from 

 the bees themselves. Comb mak- 

 ing is a great myster}'. By careful 

 examination when comb is being 

 constructed, we find the bees trav- 

 elling back and forth, with no seem- 

 ing end in view and in apparent 

 confusion. Still the cells grow till 

 full}' completed. As the little scales 

 of wax exude from the rings of the 

 abdomen, I have seen the comb 

 builders take it direct and carry it 

 to where t\\Qy seemed to think it 

 was needed. It is a curiosity to 

 see the bees in the act of comb 

 building. 



ANSWER BY J. M. SHUCK. 



As far as my observation goes, 

 the bee that has grown the wax 

 stands very still, and the bee that 

 wants the wax for building comb, 

 lifts a scale with the front finger 

 nail a little, so it can be grasped 

 with the mandibles. This busy 

 worker then takes hold of the wax 

 scale and pulls a little, now this 

 way and then that way until the 

 scale loosens, and then she trots 

 ofl" with it and applies where most 

 needed. I cannot tell what the 

 nature of the conversation is be- 

 tween the bees during this inter- 

 esting performance, but the wax- 

 grower seems to enjoy it, and no 

 doubt offers to return the compli- 

 ment at the first favorable oppor- 

 tunity. 



CANDIED HONEY IN SECTIONS. 



Query No. 41. I am troubled with my 

 sections caiulymg after they have been re- 

 moved from "tlie liive about two mouths. 

 How can it l)e [irevented ? M. A. S. 



Glenbrook, U. S, W. 



ANSWER BY J. M. HAMBAUGH. 



Keep 3'our sections in a diy, warm 

 atmosphere, a kitchen, or room 

 artificially heated, where the mer- 

 cury will not sink below 60" F. 



