110 INCREASE 
the apiarist must be exceedingly careful or he will lose much of 
his newly made increase. Robbing is likely to be general when 
no honey is coming in, and for this reason all entrances should 
be contracted to about an inch in width or even less if the nuclei 
are very small. Combs of honey should be provided to all these 
weaklings to insure sufficient stores to enable them to continue 
brood rearing. Even then, if no honey is coming in the queen 
may stop laying and everything remain at a standstill until 
the flow again begins. In order to avoid this undesirable con- 
dition, it is well to feed a little sugar syrup each night after the 
bees have stopped flying. It is almost impossible to feed during 
the day when there is a dearth of nectar without starting robbing. 
If the dearth continues for a long period the apiarist may find it 
necessary to again unite his nuclei, and his labor will be for 
naught. 
Supplying Empty Combs.—When making divisions by any 
of the above plans drawn combs should be supplied to fill out 
the empty space in the hives if possible. Weak colonies should 
not be taxed more than necessary in comb building. If drawn 
combs are not at hand, full sheets of foundation should always 
be used, for otherwise the comb built under such circumstances 
will be mostly composed of drone cells and of no value in the 
brood chamber. Drone comb is only valuable for storage pur- 
poses and can only be used in the extracting supers. Frames 
of drone comb in an apiary are always a nuisance, as the apiarist 
must constantly be careful lest they be slipped into a brood nest 
somewhere, or the queen going above into the extracting super 
shall make use of them. Fig. 91 shows two combs illustrating 
this point. The upper one is built on a full sheet of wired foun- 
dation and is composed entirely of worker cells. The lower one 
was built without foundation and is composed entirely of drone 
cells. 
If, as frequently happens, the apiarist has made too many 
new colonies and they are not likely to reach the end of the season 
in good condition, he can take a frame or two of brood from each 
