BEES AND BEE CULTURE. 



1163 



FIG. 31. COMB FOUNDATION. 



stamps the foundation right into the wired frames. To make 

 foundation, wax sheets are first formed by dipping a board into 

 melted wax, then into cold water. The sheets are then passed 

 through between two stamped rollers, or pressed by use of 

 the plates of the press, which opens like a book to receive the 

 sheets. 



It is best to use only worker foundation, and I should not 

 wish it lighter than a pound to seven square feet, even when used 

 in sections. Foundation can be 

 used with great profit, either in 

 the brood frames or sections. 

 In the latter it is best held in 

 by dipping the edge in melted 

 wax to which a little resin has 

 been added. It should be the 

 size of the section, and ought to 

 be fastened exactly in the middle of the top bar. In the brood 

 frames the foundation may be fastened as suggested above, or 

 it may be made to adhere by pressure, or best of all, it may be 

 pressed into wired frames where it must be held true, can never 

 warp or sag, or drop from the frame. If 

 the foundation is pressed into wired frames 

 when stamped, No. 36 tinned wire is used ; 

 if it is to be pressed in by hand, then No. 30 

 wire is best. In this case the foundation is 

 laid under the wires (Fig. 35), which are then pressed in by 

 using a common button hook with a groove cut into the convex 

 side of the hook. 



SAVE THE WAX. As foundation has become so important 

 an article, wax is now in great demand. Every scrap should 

 be saved. Whenever we see drone comb, with or without brood, 

 it should be cut out and melted. Old combs, all pieces, and the 

 cappings, after draining off the honey, should be similarly 

 treated. To melt the wax, the comb may be placed in a bag 

 and this in hot water, care being taken that the bag does not 

 touch the bottom of the vessel holding the water, or it will be 

 burned. A better way to save the wax is to use a regular wax 



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