THOUSAND ANSWERS 49 



workers and some like Italian, and perhaps intermediate mark- 

 ings. 



Color Sense of Bees. — Q. What is there about the color of 

 clothes to make the bees quiet when handling them? 



A. I don't know why it is ; I only know the fact, that cross 

 bees are not so likely to sting one with light as with dark cloth- 

 ing. I have worn a good many different pairs of mason's or 

 painter's white overalls for the sake of avoiding stings. I don't 

 think white clothing particularly appropriate to my style of 

 beauty, and in going through town to the out-apiary, I'm not fond 

 of appearing on the streets arrayed in white, but I'd rather do 

 that than to take the increased number of stings with dark cloth- 

 ing. But, mind you, I get all the stings I care for, even with white 

 clothing. If bees are cross, they'll sting through the whitest 

 clothing. 



Comb. — Q. From what do bees make comb? 



A. From what they eat — honey and pollen — much as a cow 

 . makes milk from what she eats. 



Q. Is the comb in comb honey injurious to a person's health? 

 Most people when eating comb honey swallow the comb. 



A. Beeswax is utterly indigestible. It is sometimes used to 

 make corks for bottles containing acids so powerful that they 

 ■ burn up ordinary cork, and of course the weak acids of the stom- 

 ach can have no effect upon it. I have seen something about its 

 being melted in the stomach; but the heat in the stomach is many 

 degrees too low to melt beeswax. Even if melted, it would still 

 be as indigestible as ever. But lots of indigestible things are 

 taken into the stomach that do no harm; and may do good. 

 When comb honey is chewed with other food and taken into the 

 stomach some claim that the finely divided portions of wax are a 

 benefit. Certainly they are not likely to do any harm. 



Comb Foundation. — Q. How many pounds of comb foundation 

 would it take to fill one brood-chamber of 10 frames with full 

 sheets? Also, to fill one super with 28 sections? 



A. For ten Langstroth frames it takes about 1^ pounds of 

 medium brood foundation, and one pound of light brood. For 

 twenty-eight sections it will take about one-quarter pound of 

 thin super foundation. 



Q. What kind of foundation is best to use in the extracting 

 frames? 



A. If you use shallow extracting-frames, you can use light 



