80 COMB. 



secreted chiefly from honey, and then consider how much 

 corn or hay they must feed to their stock, in order to have 

 them gain a single pound of fat. 



Many Apiarians are entirely ignorant of the great value of 

 empty comb. Suppose the honey to be worth only fifteen 

 cents per pound, and the comb when reiltiered into wax, to 

 be worth thirty cents, the bee-master who melts a pound of 

 comb, loses largely by the operation, even without estimating 

 the time which the bees have consumed in building the comb. 

 Unfortunately, in the ordinary hives, but little use can be 

 made of empty comb, unless it is new, and can be put into 

 the surplus honey-boxes ; but by the use of bars or movable 

 frames, every piece of good worker-comb may be given to 

 the bees, to aid them in their labors. 



Comb, when taken from the bees, is with difficulty pre- 

 served from the bee-moth. If it contc^ins only a few of the 

 eggs of this destroyer, these, when exposed to summer heat, 

 will soon produce a progeny sufficient to devour it. The 

 comb, if attached to my frames, may be suspended in a 

 box or empty hive, and thoroughly smoked with sulphur } 

 this will kill any worms which it may contain. When the 

 weather is warm enough to hatch the eggs of the moth, this 

 process must be repeated, as the sulphur does not seem 

 always to destroy the vitality of the eggs. The combs may 

 then be kept in a tight box or hive, with perfect safety. 



Combs containing beeybread, are of great value, and if 

 given to young colonies, which in Spring are frequently 

 destitute of this article, they will materially assist them in 

 early breeding. 



A strong stock of bees, in the height of the honey harvest, 

 will fill empty combs with wonderful rapidity. I lay i! 

 down, therefore, as one of my first principles in bee culture, 

 that good comb should never be melted, but carefully pre- 



