THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
25 
li The more frequently a comb has been used for 
breeding, the darker will be its color and the 
thicker the walls of the cells, the latter becoming 
more and more narrow and less and less fit for 
use, so that in time it becomes necessary for the 
combs to be renewed, although in case of need 
the bees themselves partly remove the casings, 
or even pull down the cells entirely.” 
Now, I suppose there are a great many like 
myself, with combs by the thousand more than 
four or five years old. We do not want to have 
the trouble and expense of renewing all these ; 
but if there is any gain in it, we must do it. 
Although some of those things have somewhat 
shaken my former views, 1 confess l am anxious 
not to be convinced that it is necessary to 
remove combs four or five years old, and will be 
obliged for any facts that may stiffen my faith. 
Looking at the old comb an inch thick, and 
pulling it an inch apart, T find it has a division 
wall made chiefly by the successive deposits left 
by the brood at the bottom of the cell these 
deposits in each cell being about a sixteenth of 
an inch thick. If such addition were made to 
all parts of the cell walls, the cells would be 
each one narrowed about an eighth of an inch, 
makingthe call ies.v than half its usual diameter, 
and it is easy to believe that bees raised in such 
cells would be a "pigmy race.” In the comb 
under examination, however. 1 find that the 
addition is only at the bottom of the cell — at 
least the addition to the side wall is very 
trifling. Is this the general rule, that in old 
comb the bottom of the cell is gradually filled 
up, but that the diameter of the cells remains 
practically unchanged ! If this be the case, 
then perhaps we may conclude that the only 
matter necessary to consider, as combs grow old, 
is to see that sufficient additional space is 
allowed between combs to make up for their 
increased thickness. Is anything further neces- 
sary l — Gleaning x in Bee Culture , Aug., 1SSS. 
FEEDING NEW SWARMS. 
If feeding must be resorted to (and of course it 
will be necessary unless there is plenty of forage 
in the fields) let it be done as follows : The first 
day or two feed a thin syrup, say one pound of 
water to two pounds of sugar, and place it, if 
possible, at the top of the hive (over the combs) 
and not at the entrance. If your hive has a cap, 
a small tin pan, or any dish that will hold one 
quart or three pints, will do as well as a patent 
feeder. Make a small hole in the honey-board, 
or whatever covers the frames, and place the 
vessel containing the syrup in such a way that 
the bees will have easy access to it. I usually 
make a bridge of a block of wood for the bees to 
climb over to the dish. To prevent the beesfrom 
drowning, thin pieces of wood which serve as 
floats are placed in the syrup. A strong colony 
will remove two quarts of the syrup in one day- 
yes, in a few hours. If thin, it is more likely to 
induce comb building. 
After the first few days not over one pint of 
syrup should be given each day. 
Now we will consider that the colonies have 
been queenless three days, and at this stage a 
queen should be introduced to each. It can now 
be safely done by merely smoking the bees with 
rotten- wood and letting the queen run in at the 
entrance. 
Making colonies, as above described, is in- 
tended to apply to operation after -Inly 20, and 
from that to August in. While colonies can be 
formed after the last date given, it is not safe to 
make them, as there is not time for a sufficient 
quantity of bees to be bred up for winter. I have 
known swarms to issue as late as Semptember 
10. and to get nearly stores enough for winter, 
and in some cases such colonies have wintered 
well. Yet the wise beekeeper will not divide his 
colonies much later than August 10. 
Beginning earlier in the season, as many as 
eight colonies can be made from one, and Mr. P. 
K. Russell, of Lynn, Mass., has been successful in 
doing so. — American Apieultu rut. 
DRONES— HOW TO GET THEM LATE IN 
THE SEASON. 
In my queen-rearing experience 1 have seen 
times when I would willingly pay one dollar per 
hundred for some pure Italian drones ; in fact, 1 
am quite sure 1 have been obliged to pay out 
more than that sum to obtain them, counting the 
express bills and car fare 1 have put out the 
money for. A good many years ago, when about 
every body lost t heir bees in winter, and when 
there were but few Italian bees in the country, 
I hail but one pure Italian queen and a handful 
of bees to commence the season’s work with. 
Well, it was up-hill work, but 1 managed to do a 
heavy queen business that year notwithstanding 
the discouraging outlook in t lie early spring. 
That was the season ! had need for drones. It was 
necessary to keep the only breeding queen in a 
full colony in order to obtain drones as well as 
eggs for queen cells; but later in the season, 
when the old lady had made up her mind that 
she had mothered all the males she thought 
necessary for that year, she refused to deposit 
more eggs for that purpose. Well, I was in a 
bad fix. yet it was necessary to do something and 
that quickly, as the supply of drones on hand 
would not last long, and others must be had, or 
queen -rearing must go to the walls for t lie season. 
This prompted me to experiment. Though all 
the bee-books and authors tell us that young 
queens would not lay drone eggs the first year, 1 
thought they could be made to do so. In this 
opinion I was right. I hail a colony that had 
just made a set of queen cells, and as they saw 
the need of drones, the idea struck me that the 
bees had as much to do with the needs and 
desires of the colony as the queens. So I ar- 
ranged a plan by which l forced the young queen 
to deposit her first eggs in drone cells. This is 
how 1 did it. The bees were removed from one 
of the best colonies I had, all the combs, save 
