I04 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



from a maker in Lansing, Iowa or Minn., 

 ( whose name and exact address has been 

 mislaid, ) thin and extra thin : one from T. 

 F. Bingham, Farwell, Mich, and one 

 known as drawn foundation having very 

 deep cells from the A. I. Root Co. For 

 comparison each of these was used in 

 connection with foundation made on a 

 Given press as in former experiments. 



The weight of the several kinds was as 

 follows: 



A. I. Root's extra thin, 1 2.1 ft. to the lb. 



" 10.3 " 



" drawn fdn., 6.25 " " 



Bingham's no-wall, 11. 3 " " 



Lansing extra thin, 14.8 " " 



12.7 " 



Given, 7.4 " " 



The drawn foundation is a very good 

 imitation of new comb just as it begins to 

 be occupied by brood or honej^ except that 

 it is of a decidedly yellower color and the 

 top of the cell walls is sharp as in the 

 case of natural comb when the surface 

 has been shaved off as in uncapping. The 

 several kinds of foundation were all well 

 made, but, owing to the wax from which 

 they were made, some were very yellow — 

 an undesirable characteristic it seems to nie 

 in foundation to be used in sections for 

 comb llone3^ In making comparative 

 tests of foundations it appears to me 

 there are three questions of paramount 

 importance, viz.. Which do the bees 

 work the more readily ? Into which will 

 the bees put the most honey in the .same 

 time under like circumstances? And 

 which will they draw out thinnest or 

 most like natural comb ? The first must 

 be answered by inspection, the .second 1)y 

 weighing sections of honey filled under 

 the same circinnstances, and the third by 

 measuring with a proper instrument the 

 thickness of the bases of the cells of the 

 resulting comb. 



To .secure these answers, fourteen sec- 

 tions were filled with foundation of each 

 kind except the Given and the drawn 

 foundation, then with each lot was put a, 



set of fourteen .sections filled with Given 

 foundation, and each lot of twenty eight 

 sections thus made up was put into a 

 case by itself, the two kinds alternating 

 throughout, thus making the Given sec- 

 tions occupy a position in the case corres- 

 ponding exactly with that of the other 

 kinds with which they were placed. Of 

 the drawn foundation I had only suffi 

 cient to fill six sections; .so the six thus fill- 

 ed were placed alternately with Given 

 sections in a case, as near the center as 

 possible, and the filling of the case com- 

 pleted with other sections. Each of the 

 cases thu prepared was placed on a col- 

 ony of bees during the honey season and 

 all the .sections were worked more or less, 

 but not sufficiently so that the test by 

 weighing could be made with any satis- 

 faction. By inspection, however, the pref- 

 erences of the bees were readily discover- 

 ed. In this respect the case of drawn 

 foundation was curious and worthy of 

 consideration b}- all who contemplate mak- 

 ing any use of this sort. It was used at 

 once, almost, for storing honey, and it ap- 

 peared then that it would be ahead of the 

 plain foundation at the time of capping 

 in point of weight, but such did not prove 

 to be the case. At the end of the honey 

 flow, when the centre sections were begin- 

 ning to be capped, a drawn foundation 

 section right in the center of the case 

 weighed only 70 per cent, as nuich as the 

 Given section standing next it. It seems 

 probable that this unexpected result was 

 due either to the fact that the bees were 

 dissatisfied with this imitation of comb 

 and used it only for the reception of hon- 

 ey until they could provide other recepta- 

 cles, or else to the fact that having only the 

 six sections capable of holding honey at 

 once they put so much thin honey in 

 them at the outset as to delay the process 

 of evaporation to such an extent that these 

 sections in the end appeared at a disad- 

 vantage. If this result was owing to the 

 dissatisfaction of the bees, this sort of 

 foundation nuist apparently be condemn- 

 ed; but if owing to the other ground given, 

 condenniation would not necessarily fol- 



