THOUSAND ANSWERS 61 



or damp room. I've some question whether you can close the 

 hives tight enough to keep out moths. They squeeze through a 

 very small crack. But if the combs are in a close building the 

 moths are not likely to find them. Yet it is a pretty safe guess 

 that, if colonies died on them, the worms are there already. In 

 that case, whatever combs cannot be put in the care of the bees 

 should be treated with sulphur fumes, or, still better with bisulfide 

 oi^ carbon. 



The moldy combs will be cleaned up by the bees when given 

 them. 



Combs, Old.— Q. Will combs that have had brood reared in 

 them from one to three years spoil the color and flavor of honey 

 if used for extracting-frames? 



A. There may be a slight difference, but you probably could 

 not tell the honey from that stored in newly built combs. 



Q. When having old combs in frames taken from colonies 

 that died during the winter, to what extent is it good practice to 

 dig the dead bees out of the comb? 



A. Brush off all the bees you can, hold the frame flat and 

 shake vigorously, shaking some of the bees out of the cells ; leave 

 those that will not shake out for the bees to dig out; they can do 

 if cheaper than you. 



Q. I have some brood-combs; they are black. I also have 

 some that the moths have been in, that I lost earlier. Are those 

 combs any good, or had I better throw them away? I thought 

 I could use them for natural or artificial swarms. 



A. If not too badly torn by worms they are all right to use 

 again. 



Q. How many years of constant use for brood can worker- 

 comb have without diminishing the size of the bees? I have read 

 that the cocoons left behind imperceptibly diminish the size of 

 the cells of the future occupants, and prevent the bees from at- 

 taining their full development and size. 



A. I have combs that are 30 years old or more, and I cannot 

 see that the bees reared in them are any smaller than those 

 reared in new combs. I remember that one of the patient foreign 

 investigators — a German, I believe, whose name does not now oc- 

 cur to me — took the trouble to measure the contents of cells in 

 combs very old and new, by actually filling them with liquid, and 

 he found that the old cells contained just as much liquid as the 

 new. The idea that the cells become smaller with age has been 

 taiight faithfully for many years, and there are still some who 



