JULY 1, 1915 



,^A..a»f<gf *'mm!^.:- 



Stays of soft steel wire are superior to woo'd splints. 



and foundation is so soon fastened when 

 thus placed that no defective work is possi- 

 ble by the bees. "With the center wire glued 

 at the top and bottom, no sagging of foun- 

 dation lias ever occurred. When not glued, 

 there is sometimes a slight sag of the bot- 

 tom-bar, but never any enlarged cells caused 

 by stretching of the foundation. 



No. 3 repre.senis a drawn comb; No. 4 a 

 sheet of foundation as set up when placed 

 in the brood-chamber or super. It will be 

 noted that the wires in frame with founda- 

 tion are placed on alternate sides. This is 

 unnecessarj' as the adhesion is as perfect to 

 the wires as when the foundation was set 

 lip in 1007. 



The comb and foundation have been ex- 

 posed to the changes of humidity and tem- 

 jieratnre since the cycle of tluee unproduc- 

 tive seasons, beginning in 1007; and out 

 of all examined I found the foundations as 

 firmly fixed to the wires as when they were 

 first rolled down. In rolling, the wire should 

 be underneath. This advantage of adhesive 

 durance cannot be claimed for the 30-gauge 

 wire now in general use. T have never 

 known frames wired with this small wire 

 that the ajiiaiist did not have to rcimbed 

 fre<|ueiitly where foundation had not been 

 given to the bees. Especially is this the 



case with foundation put in frames in the 

 fall, and not drawn out before winter. 



The advantages of the method described 

 are the saving of half the time, and doing 

 a job that will stand, and the saving of 175 

 inches of foundation in each 100 pounds 

 used — -175 inches in width, and the length 

 of the combs used in the apiary. 



The initial expense of wiring by the 

 method described exceeds the usual cost by 

 the present plan of wiring; but the saving 

 of labor and foundation where the grooves 

 and wedge are not used, more than otfsets 

 the added cost entailed by using the 16- 

 gauge wires for perpendicular wiring. 



As the bottom-bars in the illustration do 

 not show any grooves I wish to explain that 

 the wires engage in the groove % inch dee]). 

 In the top-bars, the grooves may be deeper. 

 The comb and foundation, as shown, is in 

 the frame with %-tliick bars, and the depth 

 of the grooves is % inch, top and bottom. 

 On splints and wires T have never used wax. 

 The queens would lay in the cells with wire 

 at the bottom a little more readily at first 

 if they were waxed ; but after a few broods 

 of bees are hatched in the combs these cells 

 :ne not avoided by the (jueen in preference 

 to the others. 



Howardsville, Va. 



