BEEKEEPERS’ DICTIONARY 
935 
Comb-foundation machine. — A machine for stamp¬ 
ing the foregoing. 
Comb-guide.-—Strips of wood in lieu of founda¬ 
tion used as a guide in the construction of 
combs. 
Comb honey.—Honey in comb together with the 
comb. 
Corn syrup. — Mixture of dextrin, maltose, dex¬ 
trose and water in nearly equal parts, formed 
by hydrolysis of cornstarch. 
Cross.- — When races of bees are bred together the 
resulting progeny is called a cross. 
Cyprian bees.—A race of bees native to the Island 
of Cyprus. They resemble Italian bees, but are 
smaller. They sting so viciously that they have 
been generally discarded in the United States. 
Decoy hive.—A hive placed with the object of at¬ 
tracting passing swarms. 
Dequeen.-—To take the queen from a colony of 
bees; to unqueen. 
Dextrin.—British gum, a mucilaginous material 
formed by heating starch. The halfway stage 
in the conversion of starch to the sugar dex¬ 
trose. Harmful to bees; a good food for human 
beings. Honeydew is unsuitable for bee-feed be¬ 
cause it contains dextrin. 
Dextrose.—One of the five important sugars. (See 
sugar.) Known also as grape sugar and as 
glucose. D. is found in fruits, honey, invert 
sugar and commercial glucose or corn syrup. 
Dividing.—Separating a colony in a manner to 
produce two or more colonies. See “Artificial 
Swarming. ’ ’ 
Division-board.—A thin board of the same size as 
the inside length and width of the hive, used to 
contract the size of the brood-chamber or to 
divide it into separate compartments; often 
called “dummy’’; see “Dummy.’’ 
Double-walled hive. — A hive having an inner and 
outer wall, the space between which is filled 
with packing material such as planer shavings, 
leaves or chaff. See “Chaff Hives.’’ 
Dovetailed hive. — A hive with Langstroth frames, 
the hive having interlocked corners after the 
manner of lock cornering. It is in reality a 
lock-cornered hive. 
Drifting of bees. — Bees wintered outdoors, after 
several weeks of confinement, on the first warm 
flight day may sometimes drift into wrong en¬ 
trances. Similarly, bees put out of the cellar 
on the first warm day in the spring may drift in 
a like manner. This results in some colonies 
becoming very strong and populous, while others 
will become weak. See “Drifting” in the body, 
of this work. 
Drone.—Male bee. 
Drone brood.—Brood which matures into drones, 
bred in larger cells than worker bees. 
Drone comb.—Comb having cells which measure 4 
to the inch. Drones are reared in drone comb; 
also honey is stored in it, but not often pollen. 
Drone comb is about one inch thick when used 
for brood; when used for honey.it may be very 
much thicker. Drone comb has about 18 % 
cells to the square inch on each side. 
Drone egg.—The egg from which a drone hatches 
—an unimpregnated egg. 
Drone-trap—See “Queen-trap.” 
Drumming.—Pounding on the sides of an inverted 
hive to make the bees ascend into another hive 
placed over. In England it is called “driving.” 
See “Transferring” in the body of this work. 
Dummy.—A thin board of the same size as a 
frame, or a little smaller, having a top-bar nailed 
on top. See “Division-board.” 
Dysentery.—Diarrhea or an affection in which an 
accumulation in the intestines causes the bees 
to discharge watery feces in the hive or on the 
outside front of the hive. 
Dzierzon theory.—A set of 13 propositions put 
forth by Rev. John Dzierzon (pronounced Tseer 
tsone) in the middle of the 19th century, pro¬ 
pounding the then novel idea of parthenogene¬ 
sis. See “Dzierzon Theory” in the body of this 
work. 
East Indian bees.—The common honeybee of 
southern Asia ( Apis indica ) is smaller than the 
Italian bee and builds smaller worker brood- 
cells. Under the crude methods employed a 
surplus of only 10 or 12 pounds of honey is 
obtained. The smallest species of the genus 
Apis (A. florea) is also a native of the East In¬ 
dies. The combs are attached to a shrub or 
small tree in the open air. See “Giant Bees.” 
Egyptian bees.—A race of bees which has been 
known for many thousand years in Egypt. They 
are smaller than Italian bees, more irritable, 
rear a great number of drones, and are much 
less valuable. 
Embryo.—The germ of the bee in the egg. 
Emerging brood.—Young bees in the act of cut¬ 
ting off the cappings, of their cells and then 
emerging. 
Entrance.—The opening at the front of a hive to 
allow the bees to pass out and in. In America 
the entrance is almost universally at the bottom 
of the hive. In Europe it is often higher up. 
Entrance blocks.—Pieces of wood for regulating 
the size of the entrance. 
Enzymes.—Eerments, as maltase, lactase, dias¬ 
tase and pectase, which by contact act as ac¬ 
celerating agents in chemical changes without 
actually taking part in the reaction. In germin¬ 
ating seeds diastase hastens the transforma¬ 
tion of starch into sugar. Lipase aids in the 
breaking up of fats. The effect of an enzyme 
resembles that of a lubricating oil on the motion 
of an engine. An enzyme is also called a 
catalyst (power to decompose) and its effect on 
the reaction catalysis. Little is known of their 
origin. During a chemical change the quantity 
of the enzyme does not decrease. 
European foul brood.—See “Foul Brood.” 
Excluder.—A device consisting of oblong perfora¬ 
tions or wire bars so spaced that they will ex¬ 
clude queens or drones but admit workers. 
Extracted honey.—Honey obtained from combs by 
means of centrifugal force. 
Extracting.—The act of taking honey from the 
combs by means of an extractor. 
Extractor.—A machine consisting of a round can 
in which is mounted a revolving reel carrying 
a series of comb pockets. The rotation of the 
reel, carrying a set of combs from which the 
cappings have been removed, throws the honey 
out by centrifugal force without destroying the 
combs. 
Extra-thin-super foundation. — Comb foundation 
running about 13% square feet to the pound. 
See “Comb Foundation.” 
Fdn.—An abbrevation for the words “comb foun¬ 
dation.’ ’ 
Feces.—Excreta of bees. 
Fecundate.-—To fertilize; to impregnate. The 
queen is fecundated upon meeting the drone, 
and is then capable of laying eggs that will pro-_ 
dirce workers or queens. 
Feeders.—Appliances for feeding bees artificially. 
Femur.—Thigh of the honeybee. 
Fence.—A slatted separator resembling an ordin¬ 
ary wooden fence. It is used as a guide to 
compel the bees to build combs that are straight. 
Fertile.—A fertile queen is one that has mated 
with a drone. 
Fertilize.—A queen’s eggs that are to produce 
workers or queens are fertilized -on their out¬ 
ward passage by receiving one or more of the 
spermatozoa contained in the spermatheca of the 
queen. Drone eggs are unfertilized. 
Field bees.—When worker bees become about 16 
days old, they begin the work of flying abroad 
to collect nectar, pollen, water and propolis and 
are then called field bees. 
Fielders.—Field bees. 
Fixed frames.—Frames that do not hang loose in 
