ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION- 



131 



takes 10 pounds of honey to 

 produce one pound of wax, and, 

 if honey is worth ten cents a 

 pound, then it costs $1.00 to produce 

 one pound of wax. Then, by buying 

 wax at $.30 a pound, a saving or gain 

 ■of 70 cents a pound is made. 



1,000 sheets at one ounce per sheet 

 would require 62 1-2 pounds of wax. 

 Same at $.30 a pound would be $18.75. 

 It would cost $62.50 worth of ten cent 

 honey to produce this wax; the bal- 

 ance in favor of buying the wax ajid 

 painting it on the foundation would 

 be $43.75 plus 75 cents that it costs 

 less to have 1,000 sheets of light brood 

 ^' foundation made, and have it better 

 liked by the bees than any lighter or 

 heavier foundation made by machin- 

 ery. 



The price of labor deducted from the 

 above mentioned figures would still 

 leave a favorable balance. It takes 

 from 1 1-2 to 2 minutes to paint one 

 sheet of foundation, Langstroth size, 

 with one ounce of wax. 



This work should be done in the 

 winter when time is not worth much; 

 in fact it must be done in cool weather. 

 The foundation should be cold and the 

 Tvax hot for best results. 



I have my foundation made to order 

 and have it fit the frame less one- 

 , eighth inch from each end bar, and 

 one -fourth inch from the bottom bar. 

 The most perfect all worker comb is 

 secured with a space of three-six- 

 teenths inch between the foundation 

 and the bottom bar, but they must 

 be drawn in the supers. I have 

 ceased using foundation in the brood 

 chambers entirely. 



The frames should be all wired, and 

 the foundation should be fastened and 

 the wires imbedded in same before 

 starting to paint same with wax. I 

 •do not want any combs without being 

 wired, and I believe no argument 

 should be advanced in favor of trying 

 to get along without wires. 



I use a small two burner oil stove, 

 and a tin pan about eight by eight 

 inches and three inches high. A wire 

 screen is fitted into the bottom of the 

 pan in such a way that the screen 

 •does not touch the bottom of the pan. 

 This is to hold up the brush. Then 

 wedge a square stick in between the 

 sides of the pan at the top. The 

 "wedge should be in the center of the 

 pan and nailed through the pan into 



the stick. This to brush the surplus 

 wax out of the brush before using it. 

 The brush is an ordinary paint 

 brush, three inches wide, with the hair 

 or bristles of the brush four inches in 

 length. 



About half way between the top and 

 the bottom of the hair, are placed two 

 sticks, one on each side of the brush, 

 crossways of the hair. Each stick 

 should be four inches long and three- 

 fourths of an inch wide, and three - 

 sixteenths of an inch thick. Same are 

 nailed together through the hair of the 

 brush, tight enough to force the hair 

 brush on<^ inch wider at the bottom. 

 To keep the sticks from slipping down, 

 fasten same to the handle with a tack 

 and wire or a crate staple. 



With the brush fixed in this man- 

 ner, much better and faster work can 

 be done and no danger of closing the 

 bottom of the cells with wax if the 

 proper amount of surplus wax is 

 brushed from the brush before using 

 it. If many cells are closed with wax 

 at the bottom it may result in drone 

 comb being built on that spot. 



After using the brush for some time, 

 the bottom of the brush will form into 

 a curve. This curve is an advantage 

 in applying the wax, by brushing 

 against the curve with the first stroke 

 or two and then reversing the brush. 



Use the same form to hold the 

 frames with the foundation that you 

 use for imbedding the wires into the 

 foundation. 



Only practice can teach you just 

 how much pressure to use for a uni- 

 form distribution of wax over the side 

 walls of the foundation. 



The temperature to keep the wax 

 at depends upon how fast you use it 

 and the temperature of the room you 

 are working in. The colder the foun- 

 dation and the warmer the wax, the 

 better it works. Have the wax broken 

 in small pieces and add to wax pan 

 continually as needed. 



Mr. Hassinger — I have the brush 

 here so that any one may look at it, 

 and I have samples of a painted light 

 blue foundation. 



President France — My first experi- 

 ence, together with that of my helpers 

 at home was, that we got too much 

 wax on the brush. It takes a little ex- 

 perience to get it on as it should be, 

 but it is an easy matter, and we have 

 entirely abandoned the use of any more 



