184 



THB bee-khepbr's guide ; 



Prof. Gillette has found that comb one inch thick will weigh 

 only from one-twentieth to one twenty-fifth the weight of the 

 honey which it may hold. 



The character of the cells, as to size, that is, whether they 

 are drone or worker, seems to be determined by the relative 

 abundance of bees and honey. If the bees are abundant and 

 honey needed, or if there is no queen to lay eggs, drone-comb 

 (Fig. 78, a) is invariably built, while if there are few bees, and 

 of course little honey needed, then worker-comb (Fig. 78, c) is 



Fig. 79. 



Money-Comb Coral. — Original. 



almost invariably formed. It is also a curious fact that if the 

 queen keeps along with the comb-builders in the brood-cham- 

 ber, then no drone-comb is built ; but let her fail to keep cells 

 occupied, and drone-comb is at once formed. It would seem 

 that the workers reasoned thus : We are going to have comb 

 for storing, for such we better fashion the large celled or 

 drone-comb. 



All comb, when first formed, is clear and translucent. The 

 fact that it is often dark and opaque implies that it has been 

 long used as brood-comb, and the opacity is due to the innu- 

 pierable thin glue-like cocoons which line the cells. This may 



