THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



2& 



the other, eggs placed irregularly in the 

 cells, after the manner of a fertile worker. 

 So I concluded to see how they would stand 

 the winter, and the 100 hives were taken in- 

 to the cellar, commencing Nov. 15. and tak- 

 ing in the last, Nov. 21. They were carried 

 in by the hired man, a part each evening, as 

 the weather Avas not very C(jld and they 

 were not quiet enough to be carried in by 

 dayliglit. 



Ajaight fall of snow came on tlie 18th, so 

 tha^ie last half were not as dry as I should 

 have liked, but I thought it was safer to 

 hurry them in before the frost had any 

 chance to get into the hives. A hive taken 

 into the cellar with ice or frost in it, is not 

 in the best condition for wintering. The 

 room in the cellar which contains the bees 

 is devoted to their entire use, being sepa- 

 rated from the rest of the cellar by latliand 

 plaster walls. A chimney is built from the 

 ground up, and this allows of ventilation to 

 almost any extent. In the very coldest 

 spells, little or no ventilation is given. The 

 cellar has a clay bottom. The hives are 

 placed in piles four deep, but instead of the 

 first hive being placed directly on the 

 ground, two hive-covers are first placed one 

 on the other. An inch strip of pine is 

 placed on top of each hive at the back end, 

 for the double purpose of keeping up the 

 back part of the quilt and the hive that is 

 placed on top. 



Possibly less ventilation would be better, 

 but the quilts, or more properly the sheets, 

 are so covered with propolis that to leave 

 them covered down tight would be a good 

 deal like covering with a board. The tem- 

 parature in the cellar went as low as 33 deg. 

 on Dec. 10, when the outside temperature 

 was 20 deg. below zero. At present writing, 

 Dec. 16, the temperature in cellar is 38 deg., 

 and outside at zero. I hope it will average 

 a good deal higher through the winter. 



Commencing the season with '-"A hives, I 

 increased to 100, and took about 1,700 lbs. of 

 honey, mostly extracted. B. Lundeber. 



For tne American Bee Journal. 



Comb Foundations. 



We all know too little about their foun- 

 dations, but I think I know more than lias 

 been reported of them. 1 have been look- 

 ing over the Journai> and Oleani7igs and 

 find that over half the reports are not entire- 

 ly satisfactory, the greatest trouble is sag- 

 ging ; the second, the queen objects to 

 them ; third the bees do but very little to- 

 ward thinning the septum of the cell. 

 Novice however contradicts us, saying that 

 they " do thin the bottom of the cells, and 

 that it is not worth debating," that "foun- 

 dations of pure wax will not sag, etc." 



Brother apiarists will you allow one man 

 to decide this, or will you open your eyes ? 

 I thihk that no one has reported that the 

 bees thin the septum of foundation as they 

 do that of natural comb. Please examine 

 the septums of cells and see if they are not 

 about as thick, especially at the corners, as 

 before the comb was built. Last June I 

 bought one pound of paraftine foundation of 

 A. I. Root, which was entirely worthless, 

 afterwards I bought one pound of bleached 

 foundation said to be pure bees-wax, but I 

 do not think one-quarter of it was bees-wax, 

 as it did not taste or smell at all like bees- 

 wax. It was very heavy, and I thought at 



first it was working all right, but it finally 

 broke down with the weight of honey in the 

 brood chamber. I did not ask Novice to re- 

 fund my money on the two dollar's worth of 

 foundation. On August 19, I sent Novice 

 $54.00 for 100 lbs. of pure yellow foundations, 

 I trusting him that it was pure and a\ou1cI 

 not sag ; when I received it I put in six 

 sheets 11x9 inches deep alternately in differ- 

 ent hives, the result was the combs sagged 

 13^ inches till they touched the bottom bar, 

 then bulged side-ways; nearly one-half the 

 combs were long shaped drone cells. 



As I' needed the combs I did not think of 

 anything, just then, but how to save them,, 

 so I cut them to fit the frame and then had 

 to waK on three or four sticks up and down, 

 to keep them from sagj:ing and bulging. I 

 cannot think that the fimndations were pure 

 as they are much softer than my pure bees- 

 wax, and do not taste or smell just right. I 

 do not think that pure bees-wax will sag 

 much, though I am quite certain I have nor 

 tested any pure wax. I think some nmst 

 have received pure wax foundation or their 

 reports would not have been favorable. 



However, I must say that even my foun- 

 dations will do for comb honey, though there 

 seems to be something objectionable about 

 them to the bees as well as the queens. If 

 the septum of the cells can be made not 

 over twice as thick as natural comb, they 

 will be a success for comb honey. The 

 sheets should not be more than three or four 

 inches wide as comb honey ought not to be 

 more than four inches deep. I have used 

 several lbs. of foundations that I made on 

 plaster moulds for comb honey, and think 

 them much better than none ; though if 1 

 can buy pure wax foundations that are thin 

 enough for .50cts. per lb., I should buy them, 

 if I want any. 



Now I would like to criticise "Novice," 

 in a friendly manner. 



1 will first explain about the 100 lbs of 

 comb foundation I bought of him. I ordered 

 sheets 18 X 12, (there were only about 18 x 11 

 to 11%). I expected to cut them all in two 

 and fasten in as per directions, leaving 1}4 

 inch space at bottom, but when I tried" sev- 

 eral of them in rather cool weather in differ- 

 ent hives, and placed alternately between 

 full combs, they sagged 1)4 inches till they 

 touched the bottom bar, then bulged side 

 ways; long shaped drone cells was the 

 result. 



To keep them from sagging I had to cut 

 the foundation to fit the frame, and then 

 wax on sticks every 3 inches. All this was 

 done to keep the con)bs from sagcjincj, not 

 that it is the proper way to fasten 'in 'foun- 

 dations that will not sag more than a little. 



I returned most ofrthe foundations stating 

 that I would not be bothered with the soft 

 things next year, and he replies, " I do not 

 see that the wax in any way differs from 

 other wax, especially as there are different 

 shades indicating from different lots." 



Thus evading my assertion that they were 

 softer than pure wax, and using such use- 

 less words as if he were talking to a child. 



Again I quote, "I would, under no cir- 

 cumstances, think of having the sheets 

 touch the bottom or sides, and why you 

 should insist on a troublesome plan, differ- 

 ent from every one else, is more than I can 

 understand, had you cut the sheets in two 

 in the middle and left them a couple inches 

 from the bottom if need be, you certainly 

 would have had no trouble." 



