Vol. XT. 



AUG. 15, 1887. 



No. 16. 



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FLAT-BOTTOMED FOUNDATION. 



FItlENI) W. 7,. H. DECIDES .\GAINST IT. 



T AM inclined to agree mo.st thoroiig-hly witii Dr. 

 j^ Miller upon thj.s sub.iect. Two or three times, 

 ^l in different years, I have e.xperimented, in a 

 "*■ small way, with tiat-bottonied foundation, by 

 filling alternate sections with that and the oth- 

 er alternates with Given. This same digging- of 

 holes, and tearing-down of the edges near the top 

 of the foundation, always appeared unless it might 

 have been during the height of a good hone.v-How; 

 and even then the bees would often gnaw and pull 

 down one edge, so that the opposite edge would 

 strike the side of the sections, and thus give the 

 foundation a kink. I must admit, however, that, 

 when the combs were finally finished, but few of 

 these imperfections showed. The greatest objec- 

 tion I had against the Hat-bottomed foundation was, 

 that the bees drew it out more slowly, and did not 

 finish up the sections as guickly as they did those 

 having tiiven foundation; but my neighbors, 

 Doane and West, used the flat-bottomed exclusive- 

 ly, or nearly so, and were so enthusiastic in its 

 praise that I finally thought that perhaps the bees 

 didn't like it so well: but when they had no Given 

 by its side, with which they might make unpleasant 

 comparisons, they might be better satisfied, and 

 would work accordingly: and, as a result of my 

 cogitations, I used the Hat-bottomed this year ex- 

 clusively. I wish now I had not. 1 wish I had used 

 one-half Given. My experiments had hitherto been 

 too much of a one-horse character, a class of ex- 

 periments in which my faith is somewhat limited: 

 and now, when I used the Hat-bottomed foundation 

 upon a large scale, I neglected to use any other 

 with which to compare it. I feel like kicking my- 



j self cver.y time I think of it. The faults I have 

 I mentioned were just as observable, however, and I 

 i believe I received less honey by its use, but I do 

 not know it, and can not prove it. That the bees 

 change the base of the cells, there is not a particle 

 of dotibt; and that the " fish-bone " is reduced to a 

 minimum is also true, and that more sections can 

 be filled with foundation for less money is another 

 fact; but that all this puts more money into our 

 pockets remains to be proved. All things consider- 

 ' ed, no foundation has given me the satisfaction 

 that has the Given. I shall, however, use flat-bot- 

 tomed foundation again another year, and I shall 

 try to use it in such a manner as to enable me to 

 prove something. 



CI>AMP WINTERING. 



You, friend Koot, ask if I am satisfied now just 

 where the cause of of my former failures lay, in 

 wintering bees in clamps. Friend R., that word 

 "failures " should be used in tlie singular, as I have 



I met with only one failure since I began wintering 

 bees in clamjis several years ago. That lailure was 

 caused by putting too many in one pit and burying 

 them too deejily. No, I do not think a clamp any 

 safer than a good cellar, and 1 have continued the 

 practice more for the desire of proving it a success 

 than for any thing else. Yes, friend R., I have tak- 

 en into account the difference in localities. lam 

 speaking of mj' locality. Upon this point, please 

 allow me to quote from a recent article of mine in 

 the 4. B. J.: " As we approach the e()Uiitor, less 

 protection is needed by bees, and finally a point is 

 reached where chaff hives and cellars never come. 

 Before this point is reached, however, there is an- 

 other point where some protection is needed win- 

 ters; where chaff hives and the various kinds of 



, packing are probably a sufficient shield against the 



