INSIDE THE HIVE —Chapter VIit. 
extracting-frames; “light brood” is satisfactory for shallow extracting- 
frames. When used in the large frames, in order to prevent the combs 
from sagging or breaking down when filled with honey or brood, fine 
wires are imbedded in the comb foundation to strengthen it. With these 
imbedded wires there is much less danger that the combs will be broken 
out of the frames when the honey is extracted from them in the rapidly re- 
volving centrifugal honey-extractor. When either the frames or sections of 
foundation are given to the bees, they grasp the very shallow walls and “draw 
them out” and build on with new wax, the work being so perfectly done that 
it, is impossible to tell where the old wax leaves off and the new begins. 
No matter how perfectly the base of the cell is formed by the rolls 
used in making comb foundation, the bees alter it slightly, making it a 
little thinner and a little rougher in appearance. 
Comb foundation serves a fourfold purpose: (1) It furnishes.a very 
considerable part of the beeswax required for building the comb at a-much 
smaller cost than the bees can build new comb; (2) it centers the comb in 
the frame or section, as the case may be, and thus the bees, when building 
on to it, build the comb straight, whereas bees naturally would just a 
little prefer to build their combs crosswise of the frames or sections and 
also curve them or make them crooked so as to add to their strength; (3) by 
the use of comb foundation made with only worker-cell bases, the natural 
number of drone-cells and resultant drones (often not wanted. at all) can 
‘be reduced and controlled; (4) when combs are needed quickly, as during 
a heavy honey flow, they. can be built much more rapidly because the bees 
can then work on the entire surface of the foundation instead of only on 
the lower edge of the comb as they must do if foundation is-not given. 
The Cells and Their Arrangement. 
In the same comb, whether it be natural comb as built by the bees or 
whether built from man-made comb foundation, will be found worker 
and drone cells, and at times queen-cells. The bees will “squeeze in” a 
few drone-cells, around the edges of comb built from foundation having only 
worker-cell bases, but such cells will be far fewer than in the bees’ own 
naturally built combs. The bees will also very often patch up holes that 
may be made in the worker comb with drone-cells. The cappings of the 
worker-cells are slightly convex and the cells are a little more than a fifth of 
an inch in diameter, and a little less than half an inch deep. The drone- 
cells are a trifle more than a fourth of an inch in diameter and a little 
more than half an inch deep, the cappings protruding a little above the sur- 
face of the worker-comb cappings. The manufactured comb foundation 
ordinarily has the worker-bee size of cell bases only. Drone-comb foun- 
dation is, however, specially manufactured for use in queen-rearing. 
Honey is stored in both the drone and worker cells indiscriminately. The 
cells usually have an upward slope that helps retain the thin honey before 
being capped. The beginner will understand that the bees use the cells at 
will.for either rearing their young or storing honey. The cell walls may be 
thinner than one-three-thousandth of an inch; but the comb is wonderfully 
strong and may weigh only one-twentieth (or less) of the weight of the 
honey stored in it. Wax is used by the bees to cap the cells when filled 
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