cess of the invention ; tons of it are in use ; brood 

 has been reared in it three seasons, and so far as I 

 know every objection to it has been overcome." 



Query second : If this was all true, 

 and foundation was such a success, why 

 is he now using wired frames to prevent 

 foundation from sagging v 



Again, the season of 1878 rolls around 

 and J. H. Nellis shouts success. So our 

 wax goes to him to be worked up, think- 

 ing surely it will go this time ; but we 

 again chronicled in our diary : " No go ; 

 money out of pocket and still it sags 

 badly, both with myself and neighbors." 



After our article in the American 

 Bee Journal for January, 1879, a few 

 got the idea that foundation did really 

 sag. so I had some sent me for trial, 

 amongst which was some from Mrs. 

 Dunham. During the height of the 

 season this sagged some, though not so 

 bad as that made by Root or Nellis ; but 

 in the fall, during cool weather, I had 

 some built out into nice combs. Yet, I 

 could hardly call it a success, as it could 

 not be used in every spot and place as a 

 natural comb could. However, this was 

 by far the best I had tried so far. 



Seeing the following from the pen of 

 J. H. Nellis, in the Exchange for Feb., 

 1879, page 30 : 



" I said it did not bother me much sagging, but now 

 we have a new kind that fills the bill, both for brood 

 nest and surplus boxes, viz : flat bottom wired, and 

 thin flat bottom not wired ; for this we shout, 

 Eureka!" 



I thought I would try some ; notwith- 

 standing the Betsinger offer of $50 for 

 a sheet of perfect brood over the wires 

 remained uncalled for by any one. Ac- 

 cordingly the past spring we sent to Mr. 

 Van Deusen for some of both kinds. 

 The bees accepted the wired readily, and 

 we soon had as handsome sheets of 

 comb as we ever saw, without a particle 

 of sagging ; but alas ! after a few weeks' 

 time we did not wonder that Mr. Bet- 

 singer's offer had never been claimed, 

 for nearly % of the larvae over the wires 

 died when from 2 to 4 days' old. They 

 were removed for the queen to till with 

 eggs, only to have the larvae removed 

 again, and thus the matter worked till 

 in time a sediment had accumulated 

 over the wires. Finally, most of the 

 cells contained brood, with but a few 

 empty cells over the wires remaining to 

 tell the story of scores of larvae which 

 had perished. Now if this fills the bill, 

 we too can shout Eureka ! — others can 

 shout, we will keep still. 



Novice says, on page 309, July number 

 of Gleanings, in reply to Mr. Cheshire : 



" Betsinger's offer was passed by, because most of 

 us were too busy to take up such an offer." 



That is too improbable. Mankind does 

 not pass by a loose $50, that can be had 

 for such a trifie..as a perfect frame of 



brood on wired foundation, if such a 

 frame could be produced according to 

 Mr. Betsinger's proposition. I saw Mr. 

 Betsinger a few days ago, and he says 

 his offer is still open for any one. On 

 the same page (309) Novice says : 



" Mr. Cheshire is most assuredly mistaken, if he 

 means to say our fine tinned wire kills larvae." 



Now, I have never used it, but a friend 

 says it is even worse than the Van Deu- 

 sen ; so I see no other way for Novice 

 but to claim the $50, or forever hold his 

 peace. 



About three weeks ago I received 

 ' some foundation from John Ferris, 

 made by the dipping process. As I 

 wished to give it an impartial trial, I 

 put it in the hive on a day when the 

 mercury marked 92° in the shade. In 

 48 hours I found the bees had the cells 

 drawn out }/ 2 their length, with some 

 honey in them and plenty of eggs ; also, 

 by measurement, it had not sagged or 

 warped a particle. In fact, they were 

 just as perfect as those on the Van Deu- 

 sen wires, or any we had ever seen. 



We also tried the thin Van Deusen, 

 on the Cheshire plan, and had fair 

 combs built, but the bees bridged the 

 wax out on the teeth or pins so far, that 

 in removing them the combs were badly 

 hurt. This foundation for comb honey 

 is all right, so far as finding any fish- 

 bone is concerned, for, from repeated 

 experiments, I cannot find any differ- 

 ence between honey built upon that and 

 from a starter, as regards the septum to 

 the cells. In the height of basswood 

 bloom, the bees would fill a box having 

 a starter of natural comb as soon as they 

 did those with foundation ; but where 

 honey comes slow, the foundation has a 

 decided preference. 



Thus, the readers have our experi- 

 ments during 6 summers, which have 

 cost us at least $200. Of course, my ex- 

 periments with the Ferris foundation 

 are not all that I could wish, to adopt it 

 for a certainty, but I predict for it a 

 grand future— in fact, a success. Why? 

 Because for foundation to be a success 

 it needs 3 essential elements, viz : 1. It 

 wants to be so you can use it in every 

 place wherein you can use a natural 

 worker comb ; 2. It must be produced 

 as low as 50c. per lb. ; 3. The machine 

 must be so cheap and simple that every 

 bee-keeper having 10 colonies can afford 

 to own one to work up his own wax. 

 The Ferris plan comes the nearest, if it 

 does not quite fill this bill, of anything 

 I have tried. 



If I should say that so far, outside of 

 supply dealers, there had been more 

 money sunk in foundation than was 

 ever made out of it, I should not be far 

 from the truth. How many there are 



