COMBS. 



19 



fore five of them will occupy an inch of lineal space ; by this 

 we can compute how many larvse the combs will accom- 

 modate, as in each square inch of comb fifty bees can be 

 reared. The cells are not quite horizontal, but have an upward 

 tendency, not so perceptible in the brood as 

 in those cells used for the storage of honey, 

 although both are used indiscriminately, when 

 required for either. In an ordinary size (i Sin.) 

 straw skep, eight of these combs are usually 

 built ; the measurement from centre to centre 

 of two combs is i^in. Their positions in 

 the hive vary very much according to chance, 

 being found built in a line with all points of 

 the compass. There is an idea prevalent that 

 bees always build their combs at right angles 

 to the entrance; this will be found to be 

 erroneous, as, in many thousands of hives 

 that we have examined, every angle was used, 

 and in many cases two, and even three, 

 angles were built to in the same hive. When 

 worker-comb is used for brood purposes, only 

 workers are produced in the cells — that is, 

 if the hive is in a normal condition ; but if 

 a queen is a drone-breeder, drones will be 

 reared in the same size cells as workers; 

 or if a fertile worker is in the hive, the same 

 results will happen. When worker-brood 

 occupy the combs, each cell is capped over, 

 after the feeding of the larvse is completed, 

 with a mixture of pollen and wax ; the appear- 

 ance of these cells then is entirely different to either honey or 

 drone comb ; the cappings are a shade lighter than the sur- 

 rounding comb, having a slight convexity of surface, with a 

 dead colour. They are closely packed together, forming a solid 

 mass of brood — called the brood-nest — in the middle of the hive, 

 but more inclined to the bottom and front, and forming almost 

 a sphere if a line is struck from comb to comb on its outer 

 edge. When honey is stored in worker-cells, the cappings are 

 irregularly concave, and have a shining appearance, as against 

 the dead colour of brood-capping, in consequence of their being 

 formed of wax only. 



35. Drone-comb. — This is exactly similar in shape to worker- 

 comb, but the cells are much larger, being ^in. in diameter; 

 thus, four cells occupy an inch of lineal space, and thirty- 

 two drone-cells are contained in a square inch of comb. 

 When these cells are used for brood, they are capped over with 

 the same material as those for workers, but entirely different in 

 shape — each cell is domed over, these domes standing in relief 



C 2 



Drone and Worker 

 Cells, showing the 

 relative Size and 

 Shape of Cells after 

 Capping. 



