140 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The following is a table showing their relative weights: 



Thirty sections filled with double starters. Wt. when Wt. when Per cent 



Kind of foundation designated by number. put on. taken off. Gain. wax. 



No. 1 1.51 12.01 10.59 4.42 



No 2 1.64 19.25 17.61 3.64 



No 3 1.63 18.50 16.78 4.37 



No. 4 1.60 16.80 15.20 4.70 



In the super left on the hive only three days the relative lengths of 

 the starters left in the sections is shown as follows: 



No. 2. 



o. 3. 



No. 4. 



No. 1. 



19% inches. 



19 inches. 



18% inches. 



inches. 



This shows that the 18 feet to the pound (No. 1) was nearly all torn 

 down while the other kinds were cut out but little. The foundation 

 did not fall out of a single section. The bees simply began at the bot- 

 tom and gnawed it off. It is a very delicate article, but for some rea- 

 son the bees object to it. The per cent, of wax in the combs built on 

 this foundation, was greater than that built on the ordinary thin surplus. 

 The No Wall foundation, was invented by Mr. Bingham, of Farwell, 

 and is manufactured by Dadant. It is a very light foundation, and 

 as its name suggests, has no sidewall to the cells. It is simply a 

 light foundation with just the impression of the bases of the cells. 

 The bees accepted this foundation readily and worked on it well, but 

 for some reason they built brace combs from the sections to the fences 

 quite freely and when the sections were taken out of the super these 

 brace combs scalped patches of honey. This was its worst feature and 

 further experiments will be made with it next season. 



Root's extra thin surplus is a foundation that needs no description, 

 as every one is acquainted with it. It was filled better than the other 

 varieties and contained a smaller per cent, of wax than the combs built 

 from any other variety. 



Dadant's extra thin stood next to Root's in the test. The bees readily 

 accepted both of these varieties and seemed to show no preference 

 whatever, but at the end of the test the sections filled with Dadant foun- 

 dation did not weigh as well and contained a greater per cent, of wax 

 than those filled with Root's. These foundations are so very similar and 

 the results so near the same that it would be impossible to say that 

 under all circumstances one would be better than the other. 



In this entire experiment full sheets of foundation on the double 

 starter plan were used. 



It seems strange that thero should be a larger per cent, of wax in a 

 comb built from a light foundation than from a heavy one, but such 

 was the case. 



One or two experiments, however, cannot prove conclusively the merits 

 or demerits of any one kind of foundation. As has already been said 

 the results under different conditions, might have been very different. 

 A similar experiment will be made next year. 



