98 AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 



SECURING SELECTED EGGS. 



To return to the drone-combs in the brood chamber. 

 When the first drone brood is sealed over, insert a clean 

 worker-comb in the centre of the brood chamber of the 

 colony set apart for eggs. Combs of the previous 

 season's building that have not been bred in are best 



for the purpose. On about 



the fourth or fifth day there 



K^Sa^^SgSSWggSS3 ^^'ill be eggs and probably 



KSSSSRRRSISSSSI some tiny larvae in the 



RK3^^.*..rfB5S«nsSk.^^^ comb. If so, remove it to 



a warm room or workshop 

 and insert another comb in 

 its place. This work should 

 be done on a fine day to 

 Fig 55. — SHOwixci HOW avoid getting the eggs or 

 TO CUT THE co.MB. larvcB chilled. 



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CUTTING THE COMB. 



Lay the frame of comb flat on a table or bench, and 

 with a thin, sharp-bladed knife, cut as much of the 

 comb containing eggs or larva? in the cells as desired 

 into strips by running the knife (previously wetted with 

 honey diluted with water to keep it from sticking) along 

 every second row of cells, as shown by the white 

 lines in Fig. 55, taking care to leave the inter- 

 mediate row with the contents intact. The strips will 

 be about one inch deep, but the cells on the side to be 

 used for queen cells should be pared down one-half, and 

 two out of every three eggs or larvae should be killed, 

 so as to allow room between the queen cells, when 

 built, to cut them out without injury. A tiny splinter 

 of wood, w^ith its end dipped in melted wax, is the best 

 for killing the spare eggs in the cells. 



The strips should now be fastened to the under-side 

 of the bars of a frame prepared as in Fig. 56, cells 

 pointing downwards, same as the cell bases in Fig. 53. 

 Or, better still, they may be fastened to the lower edge 

 of a comb, cut in the section of a circle from end bar 



