774 



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Fvill Sheets of Comb Foundation vs. 



Starters in the Brood-Chamber, 



and Surplus Receptacles. 



" One swallow does not make a sum- 

 mer." One experiment does not estab- 

 lish a theory— always. One season's 

 experience is not always a safe guide for 

 next season's operations. There are so 

 many exceptions to the general rules of 

 bee-keeping — exceptions made important 

 by change of seasons, and manner of 

 handling, that it is not safe to advise, 

 unless one knows a good deal more than 

 I do. 



For several years I used full sheets in 

 the brood-chamber for every swarm. 

 Advantage: All worker-combs, and, 

 perhaps— I am not sure- a little time was 

 saved in filling the hive with combs. 

 Disadvantage : Increased cost of every 

 colony, consequent upon the high price 

 of foundation. Honey too low to make 

 it profitable. 



Then a revelation came, and a revolu- 

 tion — backward, however. "Let the 

 bees build their own combs," thought I. 

 They could do it more cheaply than the 

 mills could grind it out. 



The question, whether bees, about 

 swarming time, do not almost involun- 

 tarily secrete wax, is an interesting one, 

 which has not been settled beyond cavil, 

 and which may be interesting to discuss. 

 If they do, it is argued that they will 

 build almost, if not quite as much comb 

 with-out the "back-bone" starter as 

 with it. It is probably lighter, anyhow 

 —that is, contains less wax than the 

 manufactured article— one is comb, the 

 other is wax. 



Last summer I met a practical object- 

 ion to starters, however, which I had not 

 met before. Nectar was so scarce that 

 the bees built scarcely any comb up to 

 the opening of basswood. That came 

 in such sudden abundance, that some 

 of my best colonies built almost entirely 

 drone-comb below, in order, probably, to 

 quickly store the product. 



But if I had foreseen this result, and 

 had provid<'d them with full sheets, I am 

 not sure whether tliey would not have 

 gnawed it full of holes, while they were 

 idle, and built drone-cells in the holes 

 when the honey flow did come. 



With the present high price of comli- 

 foundation, and the low price of bees, 

 I am somewhat doubtful of the advisa- 

 bility of using more than a starter in the 

 brood-chamber. And, perhaps, if we 

 could always have young queens, the 

 amount of drone-comb would be so 

 limited as to cause no serious trouble. 

 But when it comes to working for comb- 

 honey in sections, I am in favor of using 

 the tiiinnest foundation made, and using 

 very nearly full sheets. 



I have used starters of various sizes, 

 and like the full sheets best. The prin- 

 cipal thing in their favor is, that the 

 bees attach the combs to the sides and 

 bottom, so much better, making the filled 

 section look nicer, and better fitted for 

 transportation. Perhaps the same thing 

 can be attained by attaching a narrow 

 strip in both top and bottom; but 

 whether the saving in foundation would 

 compensate for the increased labor, is a 



question for every one to settle for 

 himself. 



I think the objection sometimes urged 

 against the use of full sheets in sections, 

 on the ground that it will show in the 

 honey, is not tenable — if the proper 

 foundation is used. None but the thin- 

 nest should ever be used for this purpose. 

 In that case, I doubt if any one can 

 detect its presence. 



For extracting-supers, I like full 

 sheets. Then no drone-comb can be 

 built ; and if we wish to exchange a 

 comb of honey to the brood-chamber, we 

 are sure no worthless drones will be 

 reared where we do not want them. It 

 may be that it will pay to go a step 

 further, and wire the frames — but of this 

 I am not confident. 



Eugene Secor. 



A Member — What would Dr. Miller 

 advise on the subject of wiring frames? 

 Dr.MlUer—-' I don't know." (Laugh- 

 ter.) If we wire our frames, we can 

 have the foundation in the middle of 

 the frame much more easily. Besides, 

 when combs melt down by extreme 

 heat, wiring may help. 



A. I. Root wanted to hear from 

 others whether it paid, at the present 

 prices of foundation, to use it in full 

 sheets. Mr. Doolittle says he can get 

 straight, all-worker combs, without 

 using comb-foundation. 



R. L. Taylor— Mr. Doolittle uses an 

 empty frame between two full frames 

 to secure straight combs. 



Mrs. Z. Hollingsworth— After you 

 have good combs built on foundation, 

 they last forever, and the wax is still 

 there. It represents quite a good part 

 of the cost of the foundation. It is 

 not lost. 



15. Taylor said that he had colonies 

 with 98 per cent, of worker-comb, all 

 built naturally, where the queens were 

 young, of the previous season's hatch- 

 ing. He used starters, three cells deep, 

 and did not wire his combs. 



S. A. Shuck had contradictory ex- 

 perience, in a very good honey-flow, 

 with queens one year old. The bees 

 built too much drone-comb. 



On motion of Mr. Draper, an infor- 

 mal vote was taken, to know how 

 many used wires in frames with foun- 

 dation. The result showed 28 yes, 25 

 no, and 9 who used them and thought 

 them unnecessary, 



W. F. Clarke objected to taking such 

 votes, as the Convention was hardly 

 expected to represent the views of the 

 bee-keepers of the whole country. 



Wm. Lyon — Large frames need 

 wiring — small frames do not. 



Dr. Miller— Even if this meeting 

 does not represent the whole country, 

 it will be both pleasure and profit to 

 learu the views of the members who 

 are present. 



J. W. Bittenbender— Combs ought 

 to be wirei', where it is expected to 



move the bees or ship them — but not 

 otherwise. 



B. Taylor — Wires strengthen the 

 frames that are made of rather light 

 wood. I would always wire such. 



A. I. Root called the attention of the- 

 meeting to the original question now 

 under discussion, which is, whether or- 

 not, we should use foundation in full-. 

 sheets. Heavy brood foundation is 

 expensive, but it can be used without 

 wires, while light foundation should be- 

 wired by all means. 



L. W. Baldwin had practiced trans- 

 porting bees for years, and never 

 wired the frames. He could handle 

 hives without wires, and did not use 

 foundation in full sheets. His brother 

 did. 



Dr. Mason used foundation put on 

 wires in the Given press, and thought 

 it a comfort to have combs -with wires 

 in them. 



J. M. Hambaugh thought it a com- 

 fort to have all the frames wired, as 

 the}' would not bre.ak down, where the 

 other frames would, especially in hot 

 weather. He was strongly in favor of 

 wiring frames. 



R. McKnight never used wires, and 

 never had combs break down. He- 

 shipped bees, on one occasion, 300- 

 miles, and had no loss. He thought it 

 would be a decided advantage to those 

 who practiced shipping, to have all 

 their frames wired. 



To the question how many use full 

 sheets in brood-frames ? 30 responded 

 yes, and 20 used only starters. 



Mr. Bittenbender said he used full 

 sheets of foundation for hives intended 

 to be transported, and only starters for 

 others. 



B. Taylor had experimented, on all 

 this, but did not know yet what he- 

 wanted. 



L. C. Axtell uses special colonies to 

 build combs, by selecting those with, 

 young queens, when they were strong 

 in numbers, and secured straight 

 combs by tilting the hive forward, to- 

 an angle of 45°. After the hive wa* 

 full, he would take out the combs and 

 give them empty frames, to build 

 ao'ain. He succeeded better, in that 

 way than any other, in securing worker 

 combs. He used the V-shaped top- 

 bar, without any starters. 



J.W. Bittenbender — Mr. Root asks- 

 whether it would pay to use foundation 

 at high prices. In certain circum- 

 stances, I would rather pay $1.00 per 

 pound than to do without it. 



To the question of how many used 

 full sheets of foundation in sections, 15- 

 responded yes, 24 used only starters, 

 and 11 had used full sheets, but had 

 abandoned the practice. 



After a short recess, 

 read his essay on 



Mr. E. R. Root 



