COMB FOUNDATION. 



!)8 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



ly reduced. While it is ])robal)le tliat the 

 Hat dies will make a more perfect foiinda- 

 tiiin, the cost of making by means of them 

 is so enormously increased that nearly all 

 the foundation produced in the world is 

 made on rolls. The best press that has been 

 so fai- made is the Given ; but it is not now 

 offered for sale, and rolls are used almost 

 exclusively. 



The making of foundation is almost a 

 trade by itself. As full directions are pre- 

 pared by the makers of foimdation-machines 

 1 will not go into details here. 



FOUNDATION AND ITS ECONOMIC USES. 



Condt foundation maybe divided into two 

 general classes: That designed for thebrood- 

 cliamber and that for the surplus-apartment. 

 P^ach of these general classes is subdivided 

 still further. For instance, Ave have what 

 we call " thin super," running 10 to 11 square 

 feet to the pound; "extra thin," 12 to 13; 

 '' light brood," used only in the brood-nest. 



HK-VVY AND MKDIUM BROOD 



LIGHT BROOD 



THIN SUPER 



EXTRA THIN SUPER 



running 8 to 9 feet; " medium brood," 7 to 8 

 feet. Thin super is generally used for sec- 

 tions, and medium brood for the brood- 

 Iranies. 



The four illustrations shown above 

 represent the different grades. The medi- 

 um has what is called the round cell. This 

 foundation is generally used for the brood- 

 nest, because of its tendency to resist sag 

 while the bees are drawing it out into comb; 

 stronger, because there is more wax in the 

 corners of tlie hexagons. It has been found 

 that bees will utilize all this wax in the walls, 

 and draw it out into cells. The more wax 

 we can give them in the wall, the quirker 

 will they draw it out into comb. The light 

 brood, running 8 to 9 feet to the pound, has 

 what is called the regular hexagonal cell- 

 wall. As will be seen by comparison of il- 



lustrations, there is less of wax in the wall, 

 and less strength to the sheet. On this ac- 

 count it is not recommended that light brood 

 foundation be put into brood-frames that 

 are not wired. The thin super has lighter 

 wall still than the light brood; and the extra- 

 thin super lighter walls still. 



The ordinary thin super is generally jire- 

 ferred because the bees are less inclined to 

 gnaw it down; and when they do begin work 

 on it they draw it out more readily. The 

 extra-thin is i)ref erred by some because it is 

 believed it makes less midrib, or what one 

 or. two have termed " gob, " in comb honey. 

 When too lieavy a foundation is used in the 

 sections, especially when full sheets are 

 used, the resulting comb honey, when eaten, 

 is quite apt to show a midrib, or thickened 

 center, and some go so far as to call it man- 

 ufactured comb because they can not believe 

 that it is as thin and friable as the comb 

 honey they ate "on the old farm at fatlier's." 

 There is some truth in this, and for that rea- 

 son only thin super or extra-thin should be 

 used; and when one desires as little midrib 

 as possible, and does not care how readily 

 tlie bees may accept and work out the foun- 

 dation, tiie extra-thin super is the one he 

 should use. 



Because of the tendency of foundation to 

 cause midrib in comb honey, some have im- 

 agined that using a mere starter would re- 

 move the objectionable feature ; because 

 they argue that nearly all the comb would 

 have to be natural, and it would, therefore, 

 be delicate and friable like the old comb 

 honey on the farm. But it has been shown 

 in the majority of cases that the natural- 

 built will be store or drone, tiie cells being 

 larger so the bees can build them more read- 

 ily. Some recent tests seem to show that 

 natural - built drone comb has as much or 

 more wax to the cubic inch than worker 

 comb built from full sheets of thin worker 

 foundation. If the bees, on the other hand, 

 would make their natural comb all worker, 

 then we should have a comb, the delicacy 

 and friableness of which would be all that 

 one could desire. 



FLAT-BOTTOM FOUNDATION. 



Flat-l)ottom foundation has been made, 

 which some think is the best surplus foun- 

 dation. It is nothing but a sheet of wax, 

 embossed with hexagonal cells inclosing a 

 flat base. While it makes very nice comb 

 honey, yet the testimony of many of those 

 who have tried it is to the effect that it is 

 not readily accepted by the bees, and conse- 

 quently valuable time is lost. We do know 



