1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



249 



I have said that the cell walls of No. 5 are 

 n)«inj inch thick; that those of the natural work- 

 er combs are -x-a^n, or the same as the walls in 

 No. 1. Now, then, if the walls of 5 are thinned 

 down to To^ij, will there be more "gob"' in the 

 mouth of comb built from it, than from natu- 

 ral dnme comb as shown at 4? As I have al- 

 ready shown, 4 has a much heavier base, and 

 the "gob," if present at all, will be more ap- 

 parent in 4 than in .5, for the naked eye easily 

 perceives the difference. Much has been said 

 of late in favor of natural bee-comb; that it is 

 more eatable, and has less fishbone, etc. As a 

 general rule, if bees are left to themselves with- 

 out foundation during the honey-flow they will 

 build drone comb; and careful measurements 



wall appears to be a little heavier at the point 

 where it unites with the base in some of the 

 cells. 



We have reproduced 6 because it is an inter- 

 esting curiosity. That the bees will accept it, 

 there can be no question ; that they will thin the 

 walls down to regulation thickness is probable; 

 but, oh dear me! who pays for the waste wax 

 that is taken off from these walls? or do the 

 bees utilize it in some mysterious way? No. 6 

 would be very much better if the walls were X 

 or ^e inch deep. It would then be much like 

 our old deep cell-wall foundation that we have 

 made on roller mills for years to supply our 

 German friends. It may not be generally 

 known, but it is a fact, that we have made 



CKOSS-SECTION OF COMB AND COMB FOUNDATION KEFOKE AND AFTEK WOKKED BV THE BEES. 



show that both the walls and the bases are much 

 heavier than those of worker. In fact, there 

 is as much "fishbone" in such comb, prob 

 ably, as \n worker comb made from extra-thin 

 foundation; but in the new drawn foundation 

 it is proposed to have the base f^mner than the 

 bees make it in drone comb without foundation; 

 and I leave to our readers to judge whether 

 there will be more "gob" or fishbone in comb 

 made from samples like 5, having cell walls 

 about ^K inch deep, and thinned down by the 

 bees, than in samples like 3. 



It should be stated in connection with 5, 

 that in the corners of the cells the plaster 

 flaked off a little; and the consequence is, the 



foundation with heavy walls, and deep enough 

 to make the foundation in the aggif gate about 

 !4 inch thick; but, unavoidably, there was a 

 very heavy base. 



Later. — A few moments ago Mr. Weed 

 brought up a comb covered with bees, in the 

 center of which, 18 hours before, he cut out a 

 square hole, and inserted a piece of foundation 

 and a piece of the new drawn foundation. 

 The bees imme3iately began to tear down the 

 former and to build the latter out beautifully, 

 thinning down the walls at the same time. 

 Remember, this was in the month of March, 

 without feeding. What would be the results 

 in a honey-flow in June? 



