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 -^^ of an inch. This 

 space is not always exact, 

 but is never under y'^, that be- 

 ■Pi„, 39. ing necessary for the bees to 



SHOWING THE SLOPE OF THB CELLS travcl between the combs 

 ANT> SHAPE OF THE BASE. ^j^j^^^^ interfering with one 



(From SartOTi and Eanschenfela.) ,, rrii. j- i 



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 larvae (167) give them a dark 

 color, which becomes nearly black with age, especially if 

 bees have suffered with diarrhoea (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, Reaumur proposed to take 

 the cells of the bees as a standard to estabhsh 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 



