bee-kekper's manual. 107 



may retard his progress to the land of plenty whither he 

 is bound. 



A FEW BEES JOIN THE SWAEM WITH PELLETS OF FARINA. 



When the swarms thus issuing from their tenements 

 are hived, perhaps a dozen or more bees may be among 

 each emigrating family that carry with them from the 

 old hives, pellets of farina. That there are any bees 

 among them with such pellets, is a matter of chance 

 merely ; for it often does happen, that not a solitary bee 

 thus laden goes off with the swarm. 



NO POLLEN GATHERED THE FIRST DAY OR TWO AFTER 

 . SWARMING. 



Now, the bees, in most cases, commence comb-build- 

 ing within an hour after being settled in their new home, 

 and during the first day, at least, no pollen is brought 

 in ; still, if the bees be dislodged after twenty-four hours, 

 large sheets of new combs will be found constructed. 

 The question then is, what do the bees make these new 

 combs of? It cannot be pollen, for the quantity of that 

 substance carried along with the issue of the swarm, 

 would not construct a half-dozen cells at most, and 

 more likely not a single cell. Nothing except honey is 

 brought into the hive during the first day or two ; still, 

 the comb-making goes on the most rapidly from the be- 

 ginning. It follows, of course, that honey is the elemen- 

 tary principle of wax. 



CHEMICAL CHANGE OP HONEY TO WAX. 



The chemical change that honey undergoes in the 



