May, 1916. 



-4^^^-^, 



Amgrican ^ee Journal j 



165 



^■^M^^ 



with one ounce of wax. 



This work should be done in the 

 winter when time is not worth so mucli ; 

 in fact, it must be done in cool weather, 

 the foundation should be cold and the 

 wax 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-sixteenths inch 

 between the foundation and the bot- 

 tom-bar. 



The frames should be all wired and 

 the ioundation fastened, and the wires 

 imbedded in it before starting to paint 

 it with wa.x. 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 8x8 inches wide, 3 

 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 is to brush the sur- 

 plus wax out of the brush before using 

 it. The brush is an ordinary paint 

 brush 3 inches wide, with the hair or 

 bristles of the brush 4 inches in length. 



About half-way between the top and 

 bottom of the hair are placed two 

 sticks, one on each side of the brush 

 crosswise of the hair. Each stick 

 should be 4 inches long, ji of an inch 

 wide, and 3-16 of an inch thick; 

 they are nailed together through the 

 hair of the brush tight enough to 

 force the hair of the brush all in one 

 narrow straight line, at the same time 

 making the brush one inch wider at the 

 bottom. To keep the sticks from slip- 

 ping down fasten them to the handle 

 with a tack and a piece of wire or a 

 crate staple. 



With the brush fixed in this manner 



much better and faster work can be 

 done with little danger of closing the 

 bottom of the cells with wax if the 

 proper amount of wax is brushed from 

 the brush before using it. If many 

 cells are closed with wax at the bottom 

 it may result in drone-corab being built 

 on the spot. 



After using the brush for some time 

 the bottom of the brush will form into 

 a curve ; this is an advantage in apply- 

 ing 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 uniform distribu- 

 tion of wa.x 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. The 

 colder the foundation and the warmer 

 the wax, the better it works. Have the 

 wax broken in small pieces, and add 

 some continually as needed. 



I have sent a copy of the above, to 

 Mr. Henry Vogeler, as he has a patent 

 on the process. I asked him to com- 

 ment on my article. He comments as 

 follows to which I reply again : 



"You are ahead of other statements, 

 I. e., 8 or 10 sheets drawn out in a day. 

 I had Dadant's extra thin surplus grade 

 comb foundation, Langstroth frame 

 size, over 15 sheets to the pound, and 

 when painted only on top I had over 

 13 sheets to the pound. I paint on a 

 board same size as sheet and have it 

 wet. Your brush is too long about two 

 inches. I got the best. Wax should be 

 melted, not hot. I paint only on one 

 side. I don't imbed wire. I wax the 

 wire and weave it in, two on one side 

 and two on the other. You are too 

 slow to paint ten sheets in six minutes. 



"The beeswax scales 1-5 inch wide, 

 1-180 inch or less thick will likely give 

 75 percent more comb honey and no 

 fishbone in the center. , 



GREAT PICKING SCENE AT E. J. BAXTERS AT NAUVOO. ILL, 

 (See our first article in this issue.) 



" Process to make beeswax scales 

 has been allowed in Patent Office. Roy- 

 alty one-fifth to one-tenth of a cent per 

 Langstroth frame size sheet." 



Oakland, Calif. Henhy Vooei-er. 



REPLY TO MR. VOGELER's COMMENT.S. 



It is quite evident that Mr. Vogeler 

 uses only a fraction of the amount of 

 • wax that I use per sheet of foundation. 

 Therefore, the difference in results and 

 the difference in the time for painting. 

 In warm weather it is necessary to wet 

 the board. 



Evidently Mr. Vogeler does not get 

 the idea of my brush. It is only two 

 inches long below the sticks as ex- 

 plained before, and the sticks help to 

 feed the liquid wax for a longer time, 

 because it stays hot longer between 

 the sticks. 



I cannot agree with Mr. Vogeler's 

 statement of 75 percent more comb 

 honey with no fishbone. I agree with 

 the no fishbone (midrib) part, but the 

 best way to make a comparison be- 

 tween the painted and unpainted foun- 

 dation would be by stating definitely 

 how much wax by weight is added to a 

 certain size sheet of foundation if 

 enough wax is painted to equal two- 

 thirds of what the same size would 

 weigh in drawn comb. Then I should 

 say that it was equal to drawn comb or 

 very nearly so. Therefore, the value of 

 wax-painted comb foundation must be 

 determined by the amount of wax 

 painted on it by weight. 



Many beekeepers told me personally 

 at the conventions that they were con- 

 vinced it was a good thing, and wanted 

 to know if the manufacturers could or 

 would have foundation painted with 

 wax and sell it as such, especially for 

 comb honey. Manufacturers will please 

 take notice. 



Greenville, Wis. 



[There is need of an explanation of 

 Mr. Vogeler's last statement, concern- 

 ing the patent on beeswax scales. Mr. 

 Vogeler took a patent, years ago, on 

 painting the sheets of foundation in a 

 manner similar to that mentioned by 

 Mr. Hassinger. But the wax scales 

 patent is another. This consists in a 

 method for manufacturing artificially 

 wax scales for the bees to use in build- 

 ing comb. 



To the enquiry of Mr. Hassinger as 

 to whether bees produce more wax in- 

 voluntarily than is needed to seal the 

 combs, we will reply that the consensus 

 of opinion among students is that the 

 bees produce wax involuntarily only 

 when they are compelled to remain 

 filled with honey. Bees that gather 

 honey from the blossoms, and bring it 

 to the hive to deposit it at once, pro- 

 duce a very inconsiderable amount of 

 wax. But when the crop is so heavy 

 that the cells are all filled, the young 

 bees remain loaded with honey until 

 wax is produced, while the field bees 

 keep on bringing more. Then is the 

 great amount of wax produced which 

 is needed to build more comb to store 

 this surplus, It is s very wise arrange- 



