18'.t4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



339 



highest, without any danger of broaking from 

 the weight of honey on the opposite side. 



i'astor Warnstorf's invention was made pub- 

 lic more than a year and a half ago. and at 

 that time it was thought that bees would not 

 use such combs for brood-rearing. Further 

 trial has shown that, when put in the middle 

 of the brood-nest, the bees gnaw down the cells 

 to the proper depth and rear brood in tliem. 

 After all, that matters not, for who wants to 

 put extracting-combs in the middle of the 

 brood-nest? So far, I think not much has 

 been said In favor of using these combs other 

 than for extracting-combs, one objection to 

 using them in the form of worker comb being 

 that fewer bees could be raised with the same 

 surface of comb. In the same frame the natu- 

 ral comb would contain a fourth more brood. 

 Yet it would be no small advantage to have 

 worker combs that could be stuck lightly in a 

 frame with little care for fastening, no wiring, 

 no stretching, and every comb as true as a 

 board. 



It would be unwise at this time to say that 

 this artificial comb with cells full depth will 

 come to be as largely used as foundation, and it 

 would be still more unwise to say that no im- 

 portance attaches to It. Some one may say 

 that, if it has been before the public for a year 

 and a half without more being heard of It, not 

 much is likely to be heard from it. Please 

 remember about the first progress of comb 

 foundation. As far back as 18.57, or earlier, 

 Mehring made his first foundation; but it was 

 something like ten years before any thing of the 

 kind was seen in this country. 



Certainly very great importance has been 

 attached to the matter of making high side- 

 walls to foundation, and here are side walls to 

 any desired height. Even if the cells should be 

 only half depth it would be a great advantage. 

 One important question relates to the cost. At 

 present I believe artificial comb is sold at about 

 the same price per pound as foundation. At 

 that price, of course, it will cost more than 

 foundation for the same surface. In an article 

 written by Pastor VVarnstorf, early in its his- 

 tory, he speaks about making three feet to the 

 pound. How much it differs now I do not 

 know. 



If this article should come into general use. 

 there will undoubtedly be improvements in its 

 manufacture. It was a good many years after 

 Mehring's first trial before friend Root turned 

 out such beautiful foundation-mills in Medina. 

 Three years after the first foundation was 

 made, it was said triumphantly that such pro- 

 gress had been made that one person could 

 easily make more than a hundred sheets a day. 

 How many hands would the Roots and the 

 Dadants now have to employ if one hand could 

 turn out only a hundred sheets in a day ? So 

 we may expect improvement in this. 



It would be quite handy if such combs should 



come to be a staple article, so that a raiser of 

 extracted honey, iiinning short of combs, could 

 send to the supply-dealer and at once i)ut in his 

 hives all he needed. Bulkiness would mak(v 

 freight or expressago more, and a doubt may 

 arise as to their carriage without breaking. I 

 should expect no difficulty on this latter score. 

 The samples I have received came direct in the 

 mail from Germany, put loosely into a wooden 

 box with no packing whatever. Some of the 

 outer cells are broken, but the remainder seem 

 as perfect as if they had just left the press. 

 Marengo, 111. 



[Now. Dr. M., we are sorry we can not agree 

 with you. A sample of the very same make of 

 comb is before us. While it is true that it is 

 quite an achievement, it is a long way from be- 

 ing perfect. It is so heavy and clumsy, in our 

 estimation, that it can never come on to the 

 market. Why, a piece ot it weighs three times 

 as much, by actual test, as the same size in 

 square inches of comb built from ?tcfii)j/ b7"ood 

 foundation. Its cost, then, must necessarily 

 place it away beyond what bee-keepers can 

 aft'oi'd to pay, even if it were practicable. There 

 is a waste of brood, a waste of room, a waste of 

 wax, and a waste of inventive genius that 

 might more profitably be spent in other direc- 

 tions. After all, foundation is practically 

 drawn-out comb in the flat; for in from 24 to 48 

 hours, under favorable conditions, it will be 

 converted by the bees into comb. There is not 

 one bee-keeper in a tliousand who orders his 

 hives nailed and painted, and all because of 

 the extra transportation charges on such goods 

 set up; therefore we argue that, even if artifi- 

 cial comb could be made in its perfection, bee- 

 keepers would still order foundation, because 

 the comparatively small bulk of it represents a 

 very large bulk of comb, and because the trans- 

 portation charges of the comb would be beyond 

 their reach at present prices of honey. 



The samples of artificial comb sent out by Mr. 

 Weed a few years ago was, in our estimation, 

 very much nearer perfection; and while the 

 bees apparently accepted it, they soon showed 

 their aversion to it, and it was abandoned. No, 

 no; we do not wish to stand in the way of pro- 

 gress, nor discourage invention ; but it seems to 

 us that our (Jerman friends are pursuing a 

 will-o'-the-wisp. — Ed.] 



POLLEN NECESSARY FOR BROOD-REARING. 



Question. — Is it necessary for bees to have 

 pollen in the hive for them to raise brood ? 



Answer.— \ believe that, if such a condition 

 were possible as not having a single particle of 

 pollen in a hive, and where none could be ob- 

 tained by the bees from any source, no brood 

 could be reared and brought to perfection; but 

 I doubt the possibility of there being such a 

 condition as absolutely no pollen in any hive 

 containing a colony of bees that has passed the 

 winter in such hive. All honey contains more 

 or less floating pollen; combs in which pollen 

 has been stored previously, contain many par- 



