COMB. 97 
‘ 
orifice to the bottom (fig. 39), so as to be filled with honey 
more easily. The thickness 
of worker-brood comb is 
about one inch, with cells 
opening on each side. The 
distance between combs is 
about 7 of an inch. This 
space is not always exact, 
but is never under ;°,, that be- 
Fig. 39. ing necessary for the bees to 
SHOWING THE SLOPE OF THE CELLS travel between the combs 
ee ee without interfering with one 
(From Sartori and Rauschenfels.) another: These distances 
can be a little increased without troubling the bees, and we 
place the combs in our hives one and a half inches from 
center to center, for easier manipulation. 
215. When the combs are newly built, they are white, 
but they get color shortly afterwards, especially during the 
harvest of yellow honey. When used for breeding, the cast 
skins and residues from the larvee (167) give them a dark 
color, which becomes nearly black with age, especially if 
bees have suffered with diarrhea (784), or raised a great 
many drones (73-190). 
As wax is a bad conductor, the combs aid in keeping the 
bees warm, and there is less risk of the honey candying 
in the cells. , 
216. Is the size of the cells mathematically exact? 
When the first Republic of France inaugurated the decimal 
system of weights and measures, Réaumur proposed to take 
the cells of the bees as a standard to establish the basis of 
the system, but it was ascertained that cells are not uni- 
form in size. : 
217. The cells in which workers are reared are the 
smallest. Those in which the drones are reared are larger. 
It is generally admitted that five worker-cells measure about 
7 
