=Bees-Wax.=--Bees-wax is one of the byproducts and has a certain commercial value for the bee-keeper. All pieces of wax, however small, comb and foundation, should be carefully preserved, and never wasted. They should be stored in an air-tight tin box, to secure them against the attentions of the wax-moth until such time as they can be melted down. Only comb of a very dark colour, or such as has the cells thickly coated with linings of cocoons, are not worth retaining and should be burnt forthwith. Before melting the wax, it should be sorted approximately into light and dark varieties, and each melted separately. Combs from the brood-nest should also be treated separately owing to the additional straining required by the wax obtained from that source. Wax extractors are made in many forms by various makers, but for ordinary use nothing excels the common earthenware jam or preserve jars, provided they are sound and free from cracks. Water should be added to the wax before it is treated, or it will burn in the jar. Dark wax is saleable to tailors, and the lighter quality to manufacturers of foundation. CHAPTER XI =Diseases of Bees= TO understand thoroughly the life of the bee as exhibited in the hive is all to the benefit of the bee-keeper; for he will then quickly appreciate when matters are at all wrong with the bee communities in his care. He realises the necessity for keeping his stocks up to their full strength, for his knowledge tells him that they are better in every way for being numerically strong; they then keep warmer, consume less food proportionately than when the hive is weak, and give a far better return in brood and honey. There are many infectious diseases to which bees are liable, most of which are due to bacilli and yeasts or ferments, and which receive untold assistance from inferior or fermenting food and unclean conditions in the hive. These, then, are two conditions against which the good bee-keeper is always on guard. He is careful never to give fermenting honey, or an excess of artificial pollen, when natural food is scarce, and especially to bar unsuitable food such as beet, raw or ill-conditioned sugar, and syrup. He is scrupulous concerning the cleanliness of the hives, and allows no accumulations of wax, dirt, dead bees, or the presence of decaying matter of any kind. Most particular is he, too, to see that the roofs are thoroughly watertight, for he knows that any leakage is bound to engender mildew in the quilts and consequent fermentation in the combs. He believes in prevention rather than cure, for he knows that the conditions of bee life tend to spread disease with lightning rapidity should it once get a hold in the hive. Its hundreds of inhabitants confined in such a small space, each possessing air organs which penetrate every part of its system, afford every advantage to the spread of microbic diseases.