THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



35 



jority, " a hixitry," will be one of the 

 staples, aS' pleiitiiul, aud of as ready 

 sale as butter, chetse or sugar. 



But I liave not yet touched the main 

 subject of this essay : The best founda- 

 tion fur brood and surplus. 1 would 

 beg- leave to divide this in two parts. 



The best foundation for brood is that 

 which will look most like the natural 

 comb of tlie bee, and will contain the 

 most material for comb. 



We must not lose sight of one thing, 

 in the matter of comb foundation ; 

 that, which we are striving to imitate, 

 natural bee comb. 



Therefore the nearer we come to it, 

 (ov shape, siie, cleanliness aud pttrity of 

 material, the more quickly our bees will 

 take it, the better they will like it, and 

 the stronger it will be. Moreover, keep- 

 ing tins ol)ject in view, we must try to 

 give our bees as much material as pos- 

 sible to build their comb; we must 

 also give them a sheet strong enough 

 to bear their weight, until they get it 

 worked out as it should be. We here 

 wish to call your attention to the ne- 

 cessity of conil) foundation being 

 stronger than natural comb, owi\ig to 

 the way in which the bees work it. 

 When bees build a comb they begin, 

 usually, at the top, work downward, 

 making their comb wider, broader and 

 stronger as they go. On comb founda- 

 tion, they begin wherever they happen 

 to be ; sometimes at one end, sometimes 

 at the top, sometimes at the hottom. 

 Meanwiiile the foundation has to bear 

 their weight; and, if they begin at the 

 bottom, it may have to bear the weight 

 of brood and of some honey, before 

 they fasten it and stretch it, as it 

 should be. 



Therefore we should select, for brood 

 chamber use, the samples that will near- 

 est resemble bee combs, and will, at the 

 same time, contain in their walls, a 

 quantity of wax sufficient to build the 

 entire comb, as the bees will invariably 

 work it out. 



Wiring has some advantages; but it 

 is a deviation from the aim we have in 

 vieAV; which is imitation of natural 

 combs; and the bees often show us 

 their dislike of wires, by cutting the 

 foundation away from them in places. 

 Propeily made, foundation without 

 wires, will not sag, after it is built, any 

 more than natural combs. 



The best foundation for surplus is 

 that which will most resemble honey 

 comb, and will come nearest, in thick- 

 ness of base and side walls, to the nat- 

 urally built combs. As a matter of 

 course, in the requisites of this found- 



ation, should be quality, cleanliness, 

 purity and light color of the material 

 employed. For this, neither bleached 

 nor dark yellow wax should be used, 

 but the finest quality; that which is 

 usually made from cappings, it being 

 the nearest, in color and texture, to the 

 wax, usually made by the bees, out of 

 the whitest honey. This surplus foun- 

 dation cannot be used in strips wider 

 than six inches with any show of suc- 

 cess, as it is so fragile, and easily torn, 

 by the weight of the Ijees ; but, when 

 once built upon, it would take a good 

 judge, to detect it in comb honey. 

 Some objection has been made to its 

 use, for fear of displeasing consumers ; 

 but, the past two years' experience with 

 our markets has proved that no one 

 objects to it; and wherever we have 

 shown it to strangers, informing thetn 

 of its use, the most delicate ladies de- 

 clared it was "nice enough to eat;" 

 therefore no fear need be entertained 

 on this point. 



In conclusion, we might perhaps give 

 the names of the machines which we 

 consider as best, for either purpose; 

 but, as all are striving for improve- 

 ment, we think we have said enough, 

 to allow any one to judge for himself, 

 from samples. 



One more word, and this on a subject 

 which interests all alike, manufacturers 

 or beekeepers. 



The manufacture of comb foundation 

 absorbs so much beeswax that the 

 price of this material has risen, in 

 two years, from twenty to over thirty 

 cents. The annual production of 

 the U. S. has already failed in supplying 

 the demand ; and we had to seek for 

 more abroad. Unluckily, there are, 

 between nations, barriers, which some 

 call " protective of their industry, " and 

 which are usually termed "duties." 

 We will not enter into a discussion of 

 the question of "American protection," 

 which would be out of place; but we 

 will say that, in the case of beeswax, 

 the duty is not useful, but injurious to 

 the interest of American producers of 

 this article, as it keeps out of our 

 ports an article which the beekeeping 

 public need, and cannot produce, with- 

 out loss. In our case the words " pro- 

 tection of industry " are the exact re- 

 verse of the truth. 



It behooves this society, as one of the 

 most influential in the United States, 

 to try and obtain, from our legislators, 

 a redress of this grievance, and thus 

 open our harbors to a product, which 

 is now forced toward Europe. All 

 practical beekeepers, without excep- 



