liee-kee [iiiig in Victoria. 57 



their virgin whiteness before tlie sections are ready for removal from 

 the hive. Drone comb is also usually resorted to by the bees; and the 

 linished section has not an even siirface, nor is it fastened to the wood 

 all round, and whatever spaces are left open increase the liability to 

 break down in transit and to ded^^ct from the weight. 



"W'hen a section is built from a full sheet of the thinnest foimdation 

 and bottom starter the bees first of all join sheet and starter, as in No. 2 

 of the bottom tier. They then raise the comb sinuiltaneously over the 

 whole face and seal or cap it all over at one time, so that, when ready 

 for removal, the capping is snow-white, the section full weight (15 to 

 16 oz.), and ueing a solid block of comb completely filling the box will 

 not break down and leak in transit. 



It is, however, important that only thin surplus foimdation should 

 be used, ns stout foundation is objectionable when eating the comb. 

 It should not be less than 12 square feet to the 1 lb. This erade costs 

 2s. 8d. per 1 lb., which M'ill cut 100 full sheets and bottom starters, or ■ 

 400 top starters as shown in first section of the top tier. The cost per 

 dozen for foundation M'ould thus be 4d. for full sheets and Id. for top 

 starters ; but as well-filled snow-white sections, such as can only be ob- '; 

 tained from full sheets, are worth from Is. to 2s. per dozen more, there 

 is an actual gain of Is. to Is. 9d. per dozen in using full sheets and 

 bottom starters. 



Theire is yet another advantage in the use of full sheets ; that is, 

 brood and pollen are not so likely to find their way into the section 

 boxes. When the brood-chamber consists, as it should do, of worker- 

 comb, bees will often build drone comb and raise drones in the section 

 boxes, when given the opportunity afforded by the use of small 

 starters. 



What has been said here should not be understood to mean that 

 first-class sections cannot be obtained from small starters. Under 

 the favorable conditions of a good honey flow and strength of colonies, 

 first-class sections, fastened to the wood all I'ound, may be produced 

 without the use of full sheets and bottom starters in the sections, but 

 what is saved in labour and cost of extra foundation is lost many times 

 over in the smaller number of sections. 



Pollen. 



Pollen is the male element or fertilizing dust of the flowers of plants. 

 It consists of minute grains mostly less than 1-1,000 inch in diameter, 

 of varied, often beautiful, forms ;_ in colour, innumerable shades of 

 yellow, orange, cream, red, purple, brown, blue, and green — the last- 

 named two being somewhat rare. Each pollen grain consists of an 

 outer comparatively hard, and an inner elastic shell enclosing a jelly-like 

 nucleus of protoplasm. 



Before the production of fertile seeds can take place, it is necessary 

 for the pollen grains, which are produced in the anther of the male 

 organ, to be transferred to the female organ of the flower. In most 

 plants, male and female organs occur in the same flower; in many others, 

 in separate flowers on the same plant ; while in still others, male and 

 female blossoms are each produced on separate plants. As plants are 



