54 BEEHIVES AND BEE KEEPERS' APPLIANCES. 



Some bee keepers use just a narrow strip of founda- 

 tion fixed to the top bar of the frames, but it is 

 far better and cheaper in the end to use a full sheet 

 for each frame. When it is desired that the comb 

 shall be wholly or in greater part built of cells 

 " worker " size, it is advisable to use sheets of 

 foundation large enough to fill almost entirely each 

 frame. 



Several methods of fixing foundations in frames 

 are employed, the most common and the most ob- 

 jectionable plan being to insert the sheet of wax 

 in a saw kerf cut in the centre of the top bar, as 

 shown in Figs. 39 and 40. Reference was made to 

 the weakness of the Association " standard " top 



Fig. 44. Block for Wiring Frame. 



bar (| in.) ; to put a saw kerf through it weakens it 

 still further, and the cavity thus formed affords a 

 hiding place for the larvae of the wax moth an 

 insect which proves very destructive when it once 

 gets possession of a comb. Fig. 42 represents a 

 much preferable plan adopted by Abbot Bros. Two 

 parallel grooves are cut on the underside of the 

 top bar, the foundation F being placed in the nar- 

 rower one ; the wedge w is then driven tightly into 

 the broader groove, by which means the wax sheet 

 is very firmly secured. 



When a solid top bar is employed, the sheet of 

 wax may be fixed by running molten wax along at 

 the junction of wood and foundation, and if this 

 is done on each side of the sheet, and the wax is 



