for "sealed" cell is unaccountable. Mr. 

 Newman says in his preface, that his pamph- 

 let is designed to " supply a cheap work for 

 the beffinner." As such, therefore, it should 

 be judged ; and as such, it seems to me to 

 be very good indeed. O. Clute. 



Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 21, 1878. 



[A few errors in the first edition, now 

 nearly exhausted, will be corrected in the 

 next edition of the work.— Ed.] 



^0reigix ^otes* 



Translated from L'Apiculteur Alsacien-Lorrain, 



BY FRANK BENTON. 



Comb Foundation— No. 2. 



Not rejecting wholly the view taken by 

 some, namely : " That colonies provided 

 with combs exhibit less activity than those 

 that have to build them, and that thus there 

 is a compensation for tlie work of tlie 

 latter," we would ask : Do we not with 

 comb foundation leave something for the 

 bees to build ? 



Suspend your sheet of wax in a vigorous 

 colony between two finished combs, and, if 

 the flowers are yielding, and the young 

 queen is laying rapidly, four days will 

 suffice to have the cells nearly completed 

 and to enable you to see a little honey, and, 

 even more, many eggs. I have often noticed 

 tiiat the queen will take possession of cells 

 the walls of which are scarcely built out. 

 But with comb foundation the work goes on 

 over a large surface at once, hence tlie lay- 

 ing can be conducted with a degree of 

 rapidity that is impossible under ordinary 

 circumstances. From this comes, 1st, an 

 increase in the population of the hive, and, 

 2d, as a result, an increase of the products, 

 because the quantity produced depends 

 more or less on the strength of the colony. 



" This is all very well,",you say to me, "I 

 admit the acceleration of the growth of a 

 colony with a young queen, by means of 

 your foundation ; but you have said con- 

 siderable about the loss which you sus- 

 tain when the bees are kept secreting wax. 

 Now I do not see that comb foundation is 

 such a great saving, for, in order to com- 

 plete the work it is necessary to have 

 material for the walls of the cells." 



Do not be deceived, the material is in 

 part before you. When the work of build- 

 ing out comb foundation commences, our 

 intelligent insects hollow out the base of 

 the cells, that is, they gnaw the wax from 

 the bottoms of the impressions. Observe 

 that they follow closely the angles marked 

 out, and which are for them real guides. 

 The gnawings of the wax are not thrown 

 away ; our insects are too economical to 

 waste even the least particle. What they 

 remove with their jaws is at once worked 

 over and fastened upon the edges of the 

 cellular base. As the cells lengthen out they 

 preserve the yellow tint of the comb. It 



even happens often that the cells are built 

 out half way before the white wax— the real 

 work of the bees, becomes apparent. Thus, 

 the less wax to secrete the less honey con- 

 sumed. And howuiuch time does this work 

 of building out consume? You will agree 

 with me that the brick maker who finds the 

 clay at hand, will make, in less time, a given 

 quantity of brick, than one who must first 

 search for his material two or three 

 kilomtres from his kiln. Thus with our 

 bees. Either the same number of workers 

 is engaged in the labor— then the work ad- 

 vances more rapidly ; or there are fewer — 

 which is always the case, and then the 

 excess of workers fly to the fields and 

 return laden with stores. The latter to the 

 apiarist, since wax is not to be procured. 



As to the finishing out of the cells — the 

 latter half, (or sometimes a little more, 

 according to the fineness of the sheet), the 

 usual method is employed by the bees. But 

 since half is gained, are we not better off 

 than if all must be built? Our account is 

 even better than this, for the full weight of 

 our comb foundation is used in the con- 

 struction of the comb. We only have to 

 change one sum— the price of wax. A kilo- 

 gram (about 2^ lbs.) of foundation made 

 by Schulz, comes to 8 francs 50 centimes 

 (^1.53); the honey saved by the use of this 

 kilogram being valued at 20 francs ($3.72), 

 we still make a profit of 11 francs 50 cen- 

 times (^2.14). Let us, in order that we may 

 not be accused of inaccuracy, make this 1 

 kilogram less, the quantity of honey which 

 might be collected by the bees detained in 

 the hive to pare down the foundation and 

 build out the first half of the cells ; there 

 remains the sum of 9 francs .50 centimes 

 ($1.77). You are not a millionaire, my 

 friend, any hiore than 1 am ; do not scorn 

 this sum. 



Still a stronger word in reference to this 

 discussion of the subject of compensation. 

 If those who invented comb foundation 

 imagine themselves right in supplying it to 

 colonies not having to produce more wax, 

 you see that with it they are pursuing a 

 faulty course, for these same persons claim 

 that it is too thick and that it requires much 

 labor on the part of the bees to get it pared 

 down. Therefore be consistent, gentlemen, 

 and admit, as every one else does, 1st, that 

 comb foundation "is not a complete comb, 

 and, consequently, that, if it is necessary to 

 have new wax to complete it, there is no 

 resason for the bees becoming sluggish on 

 account of the indulgence. 2d, that the 

 completion of these foundations occupies 

 fewer workers than would be required in 

 the complete production of as many combs, 

 since half of the material is given to the 

 bees by the bee-keeper. I repeat that the 

 use of comb foundation is the only way of 

 succeeding rapidly in only having strong 

 colonies, and what is certain should not be 

 ignored. 



In a future letter we will examine more 

 thoroughly this important point— more im- 

 portant even than that which we have just 

 discussed, for they have been trying to find 

 how to substitute workers for drones, and 

 finally have invented this comb foundation 

 which I recommend to you. I have begun, 

 my friend, with secondary considerations, 



