1894. . 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEl'EU. 



155 



pings. The darker the combs the 

 darker the cappings. But now we 

 ask how the bees do get this wax from 

 the -combs? If we lay an old comb in 

 the sun, we can separate the different 

 cells easily without destroying their 

 form. We shall then see, that be- 

 tween the pyramids of the cell-bottoms 

 all the wax is there, but this wax of 

 the cell-walls has disappeared. This is 

 explained in the following way : 



The egg is on the bottom of the 

 cells, and here the larva 1 grows. Cer- 

 tainly at that time the wax is warm 

 and soft enough, so the pressure acted 

 by the larvae against the wall, will 

 bring the wax by and by to the end 

 of this wall and here the bees will 

 dissolve tt with saliva and use it for 

 the cappings. 



How this pollen and cuticula are 

 mixed with the wax, I have explained 

 in another article. 



This theory of comb-building is of 

 practical value too. 



We can understand now why the 

 bees sometimes do not thin out the 

 middle wall of the comb foundation, 

 while the side walls are properly 

 thinned. Foundation with round side 

 walls are built out to hexagonal cells, 

 and very thin flat-bottomed founda- 

 tion will get the pyramidal form of 

 the bottom. — L. S. in Am. Api. 



Selina, Texas. 



FEEDING FOR WINTER STORES. 



Unfortunately for many bee-keep- 

 ers feeding bees for winter stores has 

 to be resorted to. In this locality, 

 there is generally little or no honey 

 gathered after the basswood has ceased 

 to yield her sweets. I say generally 

 because during my fifteen years ex- 



perience with bee*, there was one 

 year when the white clover continued 

 to bloom into September, and as the 

 queen gradually withdrew to the in- 

 ner frames to deposit her eggs, the 

 outer combs were filled with honey, so 

 that when she ceased laying, there 

 were few cells that were empty. We 

 always weigh our colonies, deducting 

 one and one-half pounds for each 

 frame (size, 12^x1 ()|) and bees. The 

 weight of the hive is added to this 

 and the balance is the estimated 

 amount of honey. This should be 

 done as early in September as possi- 

 ble, and then if you want to make a 

 sure thing of it, again in October. 

 Unless you have made an allowance 

 for the brood, they will probably 

 hive, and especially where colonies 

 have young queens, you are apt to 

 come short. There are three advan- 

 tages in feeding early in September. 

 One is the weather is more favorable 

 for the bees properly caring for the 

 stores given them. Another benefit 

 is the queen is encouraged to lay, or 

 rather the bees are encouraged to 

 care for the eggs laid, for I have had 

 many examples of where the queen 

 has continued laying long after the 

 bees would cease to care for the eggs 

 I suppose she would finally become 

 discouraged and wait, possibly to be- 

 gin again in October, but oftener the 

 following spring. Feeding early en- 

 courages breeding in September that 

 will hatch early in October, the best 

 month, I believe for wintering in the 

 northern latitude. Still another ad- 

 vantage is, the center combs being 

 occupied with brood, the bees are pre- 

 vented from storing the feed in them. 

 These combs when emptied of their 



