72 
THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
When new, it maybe easily attached to frames, or spare 
honey-recepinclos, by dipping the edge into melted wax, 
and firmly holding it in place until it hardens; if it is 
old, or the pieces large and full of bee-bread, a mixture 
of melted wax and resin will secure a firmer adhesion. 
When comb is put into tumblers, or small receptacles, it 
may be simply crowded in, so as to keep its place until 
fastened by the bees. As bees like “ a good start in life,” 
they prefer receptacles which contain some empty comb. 
All suitable drone-comb should be put into such recepta- 
cles, instead of being allowed to remain in the breeding 
apartment of the hive. 
No one, to my knowledge, has ever attempted to imi- 
tate the delicate mechanism of the bee so closely, as to 
construct artificial combs for the ordinary uses of the 
hive. If store-combs could be made of gutta-percha, they 
might be emptied of their contents, and returned to the 
hive. 
In the Summer of 1854, I ascertained that bees will, 
under some circumstances, use fine shavings of wax to build 
new comb. If this discovery can be made serviceable 
for practical purposes, it will both facilitate the cheap and 
rapid multiplication of colonies, and enable the bees to 
amass unusual quantities of honey. One pound of bees- 
wax might be made to store nearly twenty pounds of 
honey ; and the bee-keeper would gain the difference in 
value between one pound of wax, and the honey which 
bees consume in making a pound of comb. At times 
when no honey can be procured from the blossoms, strong 
stocks might be profitably employed in building spare 
comb, to strengthen feeble stocks, or for any other pur- 
pose. 
The building of comb is usually carried on with the 
greatest activity by night, while the honey is gathered by 
