hive. Tneir presence in moderate numbers during the summer 

 appears to be necessary for the well-being of the stock. During 

 autumn the workers turn them out of the hive to perish. If 

 this does not occur, the beekeeper may conclude that the 

 queen is either dead or unfertile. It should be the object of the 

 beekeeper to keep down drone breeding as much as possible. 



The oomb (Fig. 3) consists of six-sided wax cells, sloping 

 slightly upwards from base to mouth. 



9. Comb. A midrib of wax forms the base or inner 



ends of the cells on both sides of the comb. 

 Worker cells measure about one-fifth of an inch, and drone 

 cells about a quarter of an inch between their parallel sides. 

 Honey and pollen are stored in worker and drone cells. 

 Another cell, called the " queen cell " (A, B, and C, Fig. 3), 

 made specially for cradling young queens, is much larger in 

 every way than worker or drone cells, and in no way resembles 

 them. Queen cells are somewhat like an acorn in shape, more 

 or less pitted on the surface, about an inch long, and usually 

 attached to the outer edges of combs. 



The eggs, larvae or grubs, and young bees, before they emerge 

 from the cells in which the eggs were laid, 



10. Brood. are called the "brood." Under normal 



conditions the egg remains as such for 

 three days, afterwhich the grub or larvaappears (" 0," Fig. 3). 

 The grub is fed by the worker bees for from five to eight days ; 

 the mouth of the cell is then sealed over. The time passed in 

 these, the earlier stages, varies, as indicated in the following 

 table, which should be committed to memory : — 



When full-fed the grub or larva spins a cocoon, within which 

 it becomes transformed into a nymph or pupa, which after a 

 final moult becomes a young bee. As each grub spins a fresh 

 cocoon in the cell , it follows that when several successive sets 

 of brood have been brought out in the same comb , the capacity 

 of the cells is thereby reduced ; many cells also become some- 

 what choked with pollen. Beekeepers are therefore recom- 

 mended to avoid using brood combs that are more than two 

 years old. The brood in all its stages requires great warmth. 



