THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



tion, will derive a direct benefit from 

 the abolition of the duty on beeswax. 



It is hoped that a committee will be 

 appointed by your society, and that they 

 be successful in obtaining redress. 



This subject was opened for discus- 

 sion by the members as follows : 



Mr. Aspinwalt-.— As regards the 

 production of comb foundation I am 

 afraid that were we to remove the duty 

 on wax, we should have to compete 

 with the wax which is now being pro- 

 duced in Cuba and upon which there 

 is a liigh tarifi'. If this tariff were dis- 

 continued it would entirely ruin our 

 houey market. 



J. Van Deusen. — T am glad to know 

 that Mr. Dadant has given us a 

 veritable history of comb foundation. 

 He also tells us that pure beeswax has 

 risen in price in the last two years 

 from 20 to 30 cents ; I would say from 

 25 to 42 cents. I do not know how we 

 shall meet the increasing demand for 

 wax and keep the prices down. I have 

 tried dipping cloth, paper, etc., in wax 

 but all to no purpose. We do not wish 

 to make our bee hives storehouses for 

 wax; wc want our foundation as light 

 as possible for use in surplus sections ; 

 and to answer the purpose where you 

 make a firm foundation, for use in the 

 brood chamber you must use wire. 

 Where you use a foundation without 

 wire it is necessary to use much more 

 wax ; some say from four to five square 

 feet (without wire for brood chamber). 

 I should say that four to four and a 

 half is heavy enough. 



In making our foundation we use 

 wires and cover them so that there can 

 be no objection to them. The only way 

 in which you can use wire properly is 

 to put it in a flat bottom foundation. 

 Where you use wire in foundation 

 having a natural base to the cell, you 

 will always find the wire exposed in 

 the bottom of the cell. When you 

 make the foundation from six to seven 

 feet to the pound and cover the wire 

 perfectly all objection is removed. In 

 making our foundation Ave strive to 

 have the base very thin with all the wax 

 in the side walls that the bees will 

 utilize. Mr. Dadant does not refer 

 particularly to foundation for use in the 

 surplus boxes, but until the introduc- 

 tion of flat bottom foundation I believe 

 that there was nothing thinner than 

 about six feet to the pound. Flat bottom 

 foundation is stronger than that having 

 the natural or hexagonal base of cells, 

 and is less liable to stretch, comparing 



the two to strips of paper the one 

 straight and the other crimped. With 

 the flat bottom foundation we have had 

 two pound boxes filled and sealed over 

 in four days, thus showing that the bees 

 did not lose anything by not having 

 more wax in the foundation, and they 

 did not object to the form of the cells. 

 I do not think that wax can be com- 

 pressed enough to harden it either by 

 pressure or rollers. 



Mr. Aspinwall.— We used about 250 

 pounds of the wired, flat bottom foun- 

 dation last season and it was well ac- 

 cepted by the bees. If any of the wire 

 is exposed and the bees have nothing 

 to do and there is no honey coming in, 

 they will be more liable to dig it out. 



Mr. Rians. — I have used a large 

 amount of wired foundation and have 

 never known the bees to object to it. 



C. G. DicKiNSOx. — I experimented 

 with several kinds of foundation. The 

 best foundation is that which contains 

 just the quantity of wax that the bees 

 will utilize. I have had the best suc- 

 cess with the Vandervort foundation. 



Mr. Vandervort. — I do not wish to 

 say anything on this subject, first be- 

 cause when I was at Toronto I was 

 reported as saying just what I did not 

 say and I do not wish it reported. 

 Second, because there are those who 

 have more experience in the practical 

 worth of it than I have. I find a great 

 many times on shaving oft" the lioney 

 that the bees have utilized the w;ix and 

 at other times that they have left the 

 foundation just as it was when put into 

 the sections. I have never been able 

 (as was suggested by Mr. Dickinson) 

 to succeed in giving the bees enough 

 wax' to complete the cells. I i)refer 

 three to five square feet to the i)ound 

 for the brood chamber and eight to nine 

 for surplus boxes. I do not think that 

 wax can be compressed so as to harden 

 it either by presses or I'ollers. 



L. C. Root.— Capt. E. J. Ileth- 

 erington has several thousand combs 

 built upon flat bottomed wired founda- 

 tion and has never had any troul)le by 

 the bees gnawing the wires out. Many 

 of our very best apiarists have had 

 good success with this foundation and 

 the opinion of such men should have 

 its weight with us. For surplus boxes 

 the foundation should be light enough 

 not to leave any fish bone in the honey. 

 I do not think as a rule that the base 

 of flat bottom foundation is changed 



