46 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



BEES HAVE NOTIONS. 



Soint \'it'\\s Concernin}^ tlie No-W <ill 

 Eoundation. 



T. F. BINGHAJI. 



To bail<l, to plant, wh;ilf»ver yciu inteml, 

 Toioarthc c'lnmu, i>r tiic nrcli to bemi, 

 To swell the terrace, or to sink the grot. 

 In all. let nature never be Itirgot.— ope 



F/ROM the lack 

 •T' of reports, at 

 the Michigan liee 

 convention, re- 

 .i^ardin.t^ the use 

 of the no-wall 

 foundation, it 

 would appear that 

 any foundation is 

 good enough — if 

 we are only in the 

 h;ilut '.I u^ing it. While several bee- 

 keepers used this thin foundation, none 

 of them found it foo thin, or that it did 

 not give as good satisfacation as any 

 foundation. It is a significant fact that 

 no one failed — all succeeded. The lack 

 of reports can be accounted for on the 

 theory that while bee-keepers take notice 

 of the honey produced, they pay verj' 

 little attention to the peculiar methods 

 pursued by the bees in storing the honey. 

 In my observance I have learned that 

 no foundation 3-et produced exactly meets 

 the artistic notions of my bees. While it 

 would seem that it is as perfect as the 

 bees can make it, yet the}' hold opinions 

 of their own; and, strange to say, those 

 opinions clash with all of the different 

 makes of foundation. I have used all of 

 the styles, except the Given, and it is 

 the same with them all. The thick has 

 to be changed — on what theory, I am mi- 

 able to say. Why the bees should object 

 to beeswax by the pound, provided it is 

 in exactly the form in which the}- need it, 

 is incomprehensible to me. They nuist 

 see, or feel, a difference, as no foundation 

 has yet been made that they do not 

 change. 



These unsatisfied notions of theirs have 

 led to the promulgation of a great many 

 theories. I thought, and .said, last year, 

 at the Michigan convention, that I be- 

 lieved that foimdation with the least pos- 

 sible wax in it, with sharp angles but no 

 walls, would be accepted and would re- 

 sult in the least objectionable septum. 

 Since then my experience has fully dem- 

 onstrated that fact. The thinner the 

 foundation, the more quickly it is accept- 

 ed, and the less work is required in re- 

 modeling it. 



Perhaps the shiny, pressed surface of 

 foundation is objectionable to the bees. 

 At any rate, they do not build combs 

 with shiny walls; and when the no-wall 

 foundation is changed to comb and ready 

 to be filled with honey, it can not be dis- 

 tinguished from the thinnest natural 

 comb. The shine has disappeared, and 

 it has the soft, downy look of natural 

 comb. 



Farwell, Mich., Feb. 8, 1898. 



MANAGING SWARMS FOR COMB HONEY 



.\lso Something Ahout the Advantages of Side- 

 Passageways in Hives. 



J. .A.. GOI^DEN. 



MR. Doolittle 

 and others 

 have told ho^^ 

 ihe field bees 

 give the honev 

 to the nurse 

 bees, and the 

 latter store it in 

 the cells. My 

 bees, as a rule, 

 do not follow 

 that practice. I 

 know this to be true, as 1 have spent a 

 great deal of time sprinkling bees with 

 flour, and then watching them through 

 the glass as they pass up and deposit 

 their loads of nectar in the sections. 



