63 THE APIARY; OH, 



glass ; tMs we find is best done by holding the glass for a short 

 time over the flame of a candle j then apply one of the pieces 

 of empty comb inside at the part warmed^ taking care in fixing 

 it that the pitch or inclination of the cells is upwards — in fact, place 

 the guide comb in the same relative position that it occupied in the 

 hive or glass from which it was taken- There is some danger of 

 making the glass too warm, which will cause the comb to melt, and 

 the wax to run down the side, leaving an unsightly appearance on 

 the glass ; this should be carefully avoided, and a little experience 

 wUl soon enable the operator to determine the degree of warmth 

 sufficient to make the comb adhere without any of it being melted. 

 It is hardly necessary to state that only the very whitest combs 

 ought to be used. A short time should be allowed before changing 

 the position of the glass, so that it may cool sufiiciently to hold the 

 comb in its place. Six or eight pieces may thus be fixed, so that 

 when the glass is filled, it wiU present a star shape, aU 

 the combs radiating from the centre. The annexed 

 engraving shows the appearance of a glass as worked 

 by the bees, in which guide combs were fixed in the 

 manner described above. The drawing was taken from 

 a glass of our own filled after being thus furnished. 



In the Old Museum at the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, may be seen 

 a Taylor's glass presented by us, some of the combs in which are 

 elongated on the outside to the breadth of six inches. "We believe 

 that not only does a glass present a much handsomer appearance 

 when thus worked — and will, on that account, most fully reward 

 the trouble of fixing guide comb — but that more honey is stored in 

 the same space and in less time than if the glass be placed on the 

 hive merely in a naked condition for the bees to follow their own 

 devices. 



This mode of fixing guide comb does not solely apply to this 

 shaped glass, but is equally useful for all kinds of glasses. It is 

 introduced in connection with No. 28, because that glass having a 

 flat top and no knob, the regularity is more clearly apparent. 



The working of bees in the beU glasses illustrates how tractable 

 their disposition really is if only scope be allowed for the due 

 exercise of their natural instinct. They have no secrets in their 

 economy, and they do not shrink from our constant observation as 

 they daily pui-sue their simple policy of continuous thrift and 



