20 



PLEA8UBABLE BEE-KEEPING. 



abdomen, on the underside of the body of the bee, 

 and assuming a soHd form, is drawn away in very 

 thin flakes by the bee, and used for the making of the 

 comb, the cell walls of which are y^ inch in thick- 

 ness. The work of comb-building is very trying to 

 the bee. The amount of honey consumed in the 

 elaboration of one pound of wax is variously estimated. 



^UEEN CELLS 



Fig. 1. 



some authorities putting it as high as twenty pounds, 

 while others say not more than ten pounds are used. 

 It is, however, certain that the weight must be several 

 times that of the wax produced, so that if a substitute 

 be given, a great deal of honey may be saved to the 

 bee-keeper. 



The combs are composed of Worker cells and Drone 

 cells, built horizontally on each side of a mid-rib. 



