JUNE 1, 1913 



IN MEMORIAM OF OLIVER FOSTER 



BY WESLEY FOSTER 



Oliver Foster was born in Grant County, 

 Wis., March 21, 1857, and died March 12, 

 1913, at Boulder, Colo. When eleven years 

 of age he moved with his father's family 

 to Mr. Vernon, Iowa, where he grew up and 

 went into beekeeping and queen-rearing 

 while still a young man. His first swarm 

 was hived from a stump near his home 

 when he was fourteen. The year 1879 was 

 the date of his first queen-rearing opera- 

 lions and of the handling' of supplies in 

 (juantities. 



About the year 1881 he invented a comb- 

 foundation press, and he sold a good many 

 of I hem. Mr. Doolittle wrote him not long 

 ago that he was still using the outfit, and 

 lliat it was doing good work. The follow- 

 ing description of the machine is from his 

 circular printed at the time : 



Fig. 1. — The object of my invention is to furnisli 

 a very cheap machine to mold foundation directly 

 from melted wax. The mold, AA, consists of two 

 Ijlaster-Paris plates in strong iron-braced frames, 

 hinged together. The melted wax is sprinkled over 

 the right plate by drawing the fountain across 

 and back (the fountain is now made very light). 

 The wax pours from the row of holes as the fountain 

 is drawn back with the handle raised. This is done 

 with the right hand. The mold is closed with the left 

 hand; and the surplus wax, if any, passes into the 

 water in the tank. The fountain is left in the wax 

 while the mold is opened and the foundation re- 

 moved. As the plates lie in water they are constantly 

 cooling and moistening; hence no soap or other lu- 

 bricator is needed to prevent sticking. The operation 

 is very easy and simple. I use the best patterns, and 

 make perfect casts every time. One set of casts will 

 make about 200 lbs. of foundation. Some say more. 

 The foundation can be made thick or thin on the 

 same mold, from 5 to 20 square feet to the pound. 

 The very light is made by pressing small thin sheets, 

 say 4x6 inches. A lever is used which I " throw 

 in." The foundation is not quite so perfect in form 

 as some ; but the bees use it just as well. Full in- 

 structions sent with machines. The mold weighs 

 about 20 lbs. ; whole outfit, 50 lbs. 



Mr. Foster also invented and patented a 

 honey case and clamp made to be used 

 with the fotir-beeway section. It was de- 

 signed to give the bees the freest possible 

 communication from top to bottom and 

 throughout the super. Page 450 of "Lang- 

 stroth on the Honeybee " cjuotes several 

 paragraphs from his booklet which I am 

 inserting here. It will show that he studied 

 the problem of comb-honey production care- 

 fully and was original in his findings. 



There should be free communication between the 

 sections in every direction. They should have deep 

 slots on all eight edges so that the bees can pass 

 freely over the combs from end to end of the case, as 

 well as from side to side, and from top to bottom. 

 You may not appreciate the importance of this until 

 you have tried them. Wlien we take into considera- 

 li.in that the object on the part of the bees in stor- 

 ing' up lujney in summer is to have it accessible for 



373 



winter consumption, and that in winter the bees 

 collect in a round ball, as nearly as possible, in a 

 semi-torpid state with but little if any motion except 

 that gradual moving of bees from the center to the 

 surface and from the surface to the center of this 

 ball, we may imagine how unwelcome it is to them 

 to be obliged to divide their stores between four 

 separate apartments, each of which is four inches 

 square and twelve inches long, with no communica- 

 tion between these apartments. 



About 1885 he Avas carefully studying 

 comb-honey production, and the result of 

 his investigations were printed in a little 

 book, " How to Raise Comb Honey," a copy 

 of which I have never seen. If any of the 

 readers of Gleanings have a coi^y I should 

 like to know of it. 



In 1894 he moved two cars of bees — 180 

 to 190 colonies — and equipment to Las Ani- 

 mas, Colo., from Mt. Vernon, Iowa. He 



The late Oliver Foster, pioneer beekeeper, inventor, 

 and manufacturer. 



reached Las Animas in May and harvested 

 about 70,000 pounds of extracted honey 

 that season — the largest average per colony 

 he ever had. This crop was also the whitest 

 honey he ever produced, and did not granu- 

 late in the sixty-pound cans for a year — 

 remaining clear and liquid. This is some- 

 thing of a point for alfalfa honey. 



The following spring Mr. Foster moved 

 the rest of his bees from Ml'. Vernon, Iowa, 

 to Las Animas. His bee-supjaly and c|ueen- 

 rearing work was given up for extracted- 

 honey production, and he also dropped most 

 of his experimental work. 



In 1903 he sold out at Las Animas and 

 moved to California for his health, but re- 



