THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



317 



3, Weed light brood, 2x2:4, Weed med- 

 ium, 2 X 2; 5, 6, 7, 8, full sheets of "drawn 

 foundation" (the new deep cell product); 

 9 to 32, my own make of extra-thin foun- 

 dation, T,}4 long by 2 inches deep, 



Super 2. Numbers 37, 43, and 49, full 

 sheets of "drawn foundation;" 46 and 52, 

 full sheets of heavy brood. All other 

 numbers in this super, half-sheets of ex- 

 tra thin. 



Super 3. Numbers 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 

 60, 61, 70, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, and 81, half- 

 depth sheets, extra thin, with bottom 

 starters; 57, 64, and 78, "drawn founda- 

 tion;" 63, 66, 67, 73, very narrow top 

 and bottom starters; 72 and 79, full sheets 

 of heavy brood foundation; 69, drone 

 comb starters, top and bottom. This is 

 the super I have sent to Root just as it 

 left the hive; and if he thoroughly ex- 

 amines it he can tell you how the differ- 

 ent grades compare as worked in it. 



The editor of Gleanings expre.s.ses his 

 views as follows: — 



[I will explain to our readers that this 

 is the last of a number of articles written 

 by R. C. Aikin last winter; but on account 

 of its being at the tail end of the series it 

 is a little belated. 



I have spent half a day in looking over 

 the honey; but, unfortunately, the maps 

 and figures do not seem to tally in case of 

 the drawn foundation, and I was therefore 

 able to prove nothing; but as we know 

 that the flat-base drawn foundation of 

 last season, which friend .\ikin is writing 

 about, had thickened bases in some in- 

 stances, at least, we will assume that at 

 least a part of what he refers to came un- 

 der the same objection. Drawn founda- 

 tion with deep walls and Jf a I bases is a 

 thing of the past. Mr. Weed can now 

 make in its stead drawn foundation with 

 walls Ys inch deep, and natural bases, 

 which, as I have .said before, .seems to 

 eliminate the objection of "gob"' or 

 thick midrib. 



Super No. 3 contained, according to 

 the last paragraph of friend Aikin 's arti- 

 cle, a series of sections containing half- 

 depth sheets with bottom starters; also 

 another series with narrow starters top 

 and bottom. In the earlier part of the 

 article Mr. A. thinks no one could tell the 

 difference. As he sent the crate on to us 

 just as it came from the hive, and as the 

 sections stuck considerably in pulling 

 them out, I concluded he had not pre- 

 viously examined it. I found that all of 

 the sections where the greatest amount of 

 foundation was used looked more even 

 than the rest. There were two or three 



sections of the other lot (mere starters 

 top and bottom) that looked about as 

 well; but there were also some among 

 them that had almost entirely drone 

 comb; and speaking of such I cannot see 

 how any one can think it looks as neat 

 and pretty as sections of all worker. To 

 me it has a course, rough appearance. I 

 have asked several in our office, without 

 first giving them my preference, and 

 they seem to be of the same opinion. I 

 do not mean to say that nice combs can 

 not be secured with starters only at top 

 and bottom; but drone comb is quite 

 liable to be built. Some little time ago, 

 by means of plaster casts I showed that 

 natural-built drone comb is more gobby 

 by considerable than worker comb off 

 from ordinary thin foundation. I do not, 

 therefore, see that friend .\ikin would 

 eliminate the trouble of thick midrib by 

 using a scant amount of foundation. If 

 the bees would always build ivorkercowxh, 

 as they will do a great many times, then I 

 grant that the difference will be in favor 

 of the scant use of foundation. 



There is one point that has, perhaps, 

 iie\»er been thought of sufficiently. Mr. 

 Danzenbaker is very particular, Mr. Weed 

 says, to have full sheets of foundation, 

 ■A.\\i\\}\o^& sheets viust reach clear out to 

 sides — that is, come actually in contact 

 with the wood. If it reaches to within 

 only y% inch, the bees will be pretty sure 

 to make bee-spaces, or pop-lioles. This 

 is one secret of his getting such beautiful 

 honey, Mr. Weed believes. 



.\ good many other bee-keepers use full 

 sheets, but there is almost a bee-space 

 around the sides and edges; and this, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Weed, does not give the 

 ])erfect slab of honey, which we so much 

 admire. — Ed.] 



I agree entirely with Mr. Aikin, but I 

 think more stress ought to be placed uj)- 

 on the fact that in a heavy flow the use of 

 foundation enables the bees to furnish 

 storage for honey that could not be stored 

 if comb were built naturally. To my 

 mind this is the onl}', or the greatest, 

 reason for using full sheets of foundation 

 in sections. To \\\y mind, drone-comb- 

 honey is at least the equal of worker 

 comb so far as beauty is concerned; and 

 when it comes to a choice between natur- 

 ally built drone-comb-honey, and that 

 built from comb foundation, as regards 

 eating qualities, the foundation stands no 

 show whatever. I know that drone-comb 



