THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 59 



between the two hives, with a piece of board cut for that purpose, 

 and you are done. The hive is now as shown complete in cut No. 2^ 

 and as the brood hatches out in the rear brood chamber, and the 

 bees wish to fly, they do so, passing out between the two bottom 

 boards under the front hive to the screen front and out near the 

 entrance to the front hive, and the most of them cjuietly unite with 

 those in the front hive. 

 Downer's Grove, 111. 



[I don't know that I should comment on the alcove plan, for,. 

 having never tried it, what I would say would be only a guess, but 

 I should "guess" that the average bee-keeper numbering his colonies 

 by the hundreds, would prefer a plan that only required the original 

 hive, or at best an extra hive body, ^^'hile at first it would seem 

 that the screen front is all that is needed, a careful analysis will 

 show that in addition to that there are an extra hive body, one 

 extra cover and two extra bottom boards. This, of course, does not 

 mean that the plan outlined does not have its good features, for it 

 has, and I have no doubt but what it will do all the writer claims 

 for it.] 



Strengthening Foundation By Painting With Wax. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



■^^^ HE most serious difficulty in the use of foundation in brood 

 \^J combs has been its tendency to stretch or sag, causing the 

 combs to warp and bulge out of shape and the cells in the 

 upper half of the comb to be stretched into different sizes and 

 shapes, thus making very imperfect combs. The wiring of frames 

 and the use of splints have been much in use to prevent this 

 stretching. I have had no practical experience with splints, and 

 wiring has not been fully satisfactory in my work. 



Some 30 years ago I used some foundation made on Oliver 

 Foster's plaster molds. One set of molds I used made the founda- 

 tion much thicker one edge than was the other, and when hung on 

 frames with the thick edge up, was almost absolutely free from 

 stretching; while other foundation that was of same thickness,. 

 both edges, was not free from trouble. 



In 1888 I took charge of a large Apiary near Havana, Cuba, 

 in which was used a Given press. This, old-time bee-keepers re- 

 member, pressed the dipped sheets of wax between two plates, 

 operated by a strong knuckle joint. By using the dipping boards 

 side down instead of end down, they could be dipped only part way 

 in the melted wax, after the entire jjoard had been properly dipped ; 

 thus leaving the sheets of wax much thicker on one edge than they 



