March, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



207 



A comb that has not been in use very long. The 

 upper part that has contained honey only is still 

 white. The lower part, where the brood was reared, 

 has turned dark. 



"travel-stained," however — tl;a( is, tlie bees 

 in walking- constantly over it and over the 

 fresh iiroi3olis (the ijitchy substance which 

 they gather from certain buds) soon stain 

 the white wax so that it has a brown color. 

 Moreover, as soon as a few generations 

 of brood are reared in the cells the comb 

 becomes quite black, and in time black all 

 over. This is no indication that it is not 

 perfectly good, however, for combs have 

 been in use continuously for thirty or forty 

 years. The older they are the tougher they 

 become, owing to the manv lavers of cocoons. 



becomes what its name implies — a founda- 

 tion for the comb. The bases of the cells 

 are formed, and the side walls are started. 

 The bees g'rasp these very shallow walls and 

 " draw them out " and build on with new 

 wax, the work being so perfectly done that 

 it is impossible to tell where the old wax 

 leaves off and the new begins. This comb 

 foundation is used in the small section hon- 

 ey-boxes as well as in the large frames in 

 the brood-chamber. It serves a double pur- 

 pose : it furnishes a good deal of the bees- 

 wax required for building the comb, and it 

 also centers the comb in the frame or sec- 

 tion as the ease may be, and compels the 

 bees to build it straight. As a rule, bees 

 would just as soon (in fact, a little rather) 

 build the combs crosswise of the frames or 

 sections, and also curve them or make thsm 

 crooked, thus adding to their strength. In 

 the large frames, in order to prevent the 

 combs from sagging or from breaking down 

 when filled with honey or brood, fine hori- 

 zontal wires are imbedded in the tomb foun- 

 dation ; then, even tho the combs later on be 

 extracted in the centrifugal honey-extractor 

 mentioned in the last lesson, there is little 

 danger that they will be broken out of the 

 frame. No matter how perfectly the base of 

 the cell is formed by the roll, the bees alter 

 it slightly, making it a little thinner and a 

 little more granular in appearance. 



When the comb is first built it is creamy 

 white in appearance. It very soon becomes 



After a comb has been in use a year or two it be- 

 comes almost black. This, however, does not detract 

 from the value of the comb in the least. (The white 

 part is capped honey.) 



Pollen or bee-bread in white comb. The bees pack 

 the pollen in the cells, for future use. They never 

 entirely till the cells, therefore if a cell is partly full 

 of a semi-hard dark substance, it is almost sure to be 

 pollen. 



Bees do the greatest service to mankind 

 in pollinating fruit - blossoms. They fly 

 from blossom to blossom and carry the pol- 

 len from one to another so that cross-pollin- 

 ation is accomplished far more effectively 

 than could be 

 done by the wind. 

 A part of this 

 pollen the bees 

 carry to the hives 

 packed in huge 

 pellets on each of 

 their rear leg's.* 

 This pollen fur- 

 nishes the nitro- 

 genous food for 

 the bees themselves but more especially for 

 the young larvte. Without it brood-rear- 

 ing can not be carried on ; and if there 

 is no natural pollen, substitutes sometimes 

 have to be provid- 

 ed such as rye 

 meal or bee flour. 

 On page 188 is an 

 illustr a t i n of 

 bees working on 

 a substitute for 

 pollen. 



A good queen 



is able to lay , Capped brood in the cells 



^ , ,, ., at the left, pollen at the 



two to three thou- right. 



Pollen and capped honey 

 in old black comb. 



* See the picture on the cover of this issue. 



