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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVZ]R 



Honey Comb Construction. 



L. A. ASPINWALL. 



" In works of labor and of skill 1 would be 

 busy too. " 



TN my November 

 1 article I treated 

 the subject of hou- 

 ey comb relative to 

 the i m possible 

 which presented it- 

 self, of its adapta- 

 bility to the re- 

 quirements of the 

 queen as well as 

 the workers. In 

 this paper I shall 

 speak of its con- 

 struction. Altnough much has been written 

 to elucidate the subject, still there are add'- 

 tional facts which are exceedingly interest- 

 ing to the student in bee-culture. 



It is. however, generally understood that 

 wax is a natural secretion of the worker 

 bees, resulting from a gorged condition. 

 The food consumed to produce this condi- 

 tion is also generally understood to be hon- 

 ey or saccharine juices with a certain pro- 

 portion of water. The proportions are not 

 known, and from a practical standpoint is 

 unimportant, as the water is usually obtain- 

 able in great abundance. However, the 

 importance of knowing the exact amount of 

 honey consumed to produce a pound of wax, 

 is great in this age of that high priced com- 

 odity. 



It has been variously estimated, that from 

 ten to twenty pounds of honey is required to 

 produce a pound of wax. In this matter of 

 obtaining such variable results we should 

 take into consideration that temperature is 

 an important factor in the matter of secre- 

 tion, a high temperature being most favora- 

 ble to economic results. This is in harmony 

 with the general arrangement as it naturally 

 takes place. Warm weather being necessary 

 for the secretion of honey ; and with the cir- 

 cumstance of honey gathering, wax secre- 

 tion, invariably takes place when additional 

 cell room is required. Langstroth in his 

 work, page 7;5, refering to it says — " It is an 

 interesting fact which seems hitherto to 

 have escaped notice, that honey gathering 

 and comb building go on simultaneously; 

 so that when one stops the other stops also. 

 As soon as the honey harvest begins to fail, 



so that consumption is in advance of pro- 

 duction, the bees cease building new comb, 

 even though large portions of their hive are 

 unfilled. When honey no longer abounds 

 in the fields, it is wisely ordered that they 

 should not consume, in comb building, the 

 treasures for winter use. " 



I shall here endeavor to show that while 

 honey gathering and comb building go on 

 simultaneously, that, wax secretion is im- 

 perative, and that it never takes place until 

 all available cells are tilled to an extent con- 

 sistent with the evaporation of moisture 

 contained in the honey. All repair work of 

 the hive requiring wax is made at the ex- 

 pense of other portions of the comb, as is 

 invariable indicated by the color, as, also, 

 are queen cells, which always correspond in 

 shade with the comb upon which they are 

 built. Cheshire speaks of them as being 

 made of refuse. The rounded edges of the 

 cells upon the great comb surface of the 

 hive are ample for all this work. 



Prof Cook alludes to the fact, that during 

 the height of honey gathering, wax scales 

 can be found upon the workers when visit- 

 ing the flowers, Page 152 Bee Keepet's Guide. 

 He also states that when the sections and 

 brood chamber are filled with foundation, 

 it is difficult to find any bees bearing wax 

 scales. 



Let us consider for a moment, the circum- 

 stances of wax secretion. With empty cells, 

 comb extension is unnecessary, whether it 

 be for breeding purposes, or the storage of 

 honey. But with a good honey flow, and 

 all available cells filled, the returning honey 

 gatherers transfer their loads to the middle 

 aged bees, which, being unable to disgorge 

 themselves, naturally secrete wax for comb 

 extension. Under such circumstances, 

 most careful observers have noticed how, 

 towards the close of day, when the honey 

 yield has been exceptionally good, that be- 

 cause of the gorged condition of every 

 available wax secreting bee, the old honey 

 gatherers have been compelled to loll around 

 the hive entrance with their heavy burdens. 

 Under such pressure, they can be found in 

 the fields, after a period of twenty-four 

 hours, bearing wax scales, notwithstanding 

 its secretion is confined chiefly to to the mid- 

 dle aged bees. Under these circumstances 

 we can readily see how the cells, being va- 

 cated by maturing bees, are rapidly filled 

 with honey to the exclusion of brood. VV^e 

 are guided by this compulsory condition as 



