160 



uLeaNiKgs in bee culture. 



Mar. 



FOUNDATION FOR SURPLUS BOXES. 



FRIEND ELWOOD GIVES US SOME NEW PACTS IN 

 REGARD TO FLAT-BOTTOM FOUNDATION. 



N looking over the last few numbers of Glean- 

 ings I have been particularly interested in the 

 discussion of the relative merits of flat-bottom 

 and natural-base foundation, and the proper 

 weight of the same for surplus honey. To 

 have flat-bottom foundation pronounced impracti* 

 cal, as a writer in Gleanings has lately asserted, 

 sounds strangely to some of us who have used 

 It by the ton, without making a similar discovery. 

 We have been equally surprised to have some of 

 your correspondents recommend a foundation as 

 heavy as eight feet to the pound, if the extra 

 weight be in the side walls. A flsli-bone will quite 

 often be found at the base of these heavy ridges of 

 wax; but no matter how well thinned by the bees, 

 the wax is there in ol)jcctionable quantity, and 

 beeswax is not flaky comb which separates in the 

 mouth, while chewing the tenacious wax unites it 

 into a compact mass. Very many complaints are 

 made by dealers and consumers as to the great 

 quantity of wax they find in some lots of comb 

 honey. I venture the assertion, that nothing else 

 has done so much to lessen the demand and the 

 price for comb honey as the use of too heavy foun- 

 dation. 1 think, had producers been as careful in 

 this respect as they ought, the market would now 

 take double the quantity, and at a much higher, 

 price. 



The question should be, not how much, but how 

 little beeswax can we use in suri)lus foundation. 

 How light can we make it, and have it strong 

 enough and yet retain sufficient side wall to make 

 It acceptable to the beesV In answering this ques- 

 tion, the merits of the flat bottom will come in, for 

 it is plain that a foundation of this make is much 

 stronger than one with the natural base. The sep- 

 tum of the first is a plain straight wax sheet that re- 

 mains perfect until weighted to its breaking capaci- 

 ty. The septum of the natural base is a crimpled, 

 crooKed wax sheet that fails when only enough 

 weight is put upon it to commence the straight- 

 ening - out process, while the same height of 

 side wall strengthens the flat bottom more than 

 It does the natural base. I am told, that, so great 

 is the strength of flat-bottom foundation, no wires 

 are needed with low brood - chambers, such as 

 Heddon's. The side walls must br thin, but of good 

 height, or the bees may too easily remove them if 

 there is any poor honey weather before they are 

 drawn out. I have seen samples of flat-bottom 

 foundation from the West, with side walls so thin 

 and low that a few ambitious bees could soon pock- 

 et them, leaving a plain wax sheet, after which the 

 bees would be more apt to gnaw it than to build it 

 out. Thisis the kind that one or more of your cor- 

 respondents have tried and found wanting. Mr. 

 Cowan's experience has been difl'erent, for ho says, 

 in his Guide Book, page 58, that for surplus honey 

 " there if nothing to equal the thin flat-bottom 

 foundation." It is claimed that a flat-bottom foun- 

 dation as light as U ft. to the pound is strong 

 enough, and yet retains sufficient side wall to make 

 it acceptable to the bees. It is also claimed that 

 it is not practicable to make or use a natural-base 

 foundation as light as this. 



But surplus foundation must possess other good 

 qualities than thin base and high thin side walls. It 



must be made of the finest selected wax. It is a 

 mistake to suppose that discolored, hard, or burnt 

 wax can be clarified so as to become fit to put into 

 comb honey. It should be made with uniform but 

 not excessive pressure. Much foundation is injur- 

 ed by too much pressure in making. The sheets 

 are cast too thin at one end and too thick at the 

 other, and in passing through the mill but one 

 place in the sheet has the proper pressure. 



In reading the objections to the Given founda- 

 tion I observe that Tione of your correspondents, 

 although some of them are foundation - makers, 

 have yet learned the art of dipping sheets of uni- 

 form thickness throughout. The l>est foundation- 

 makers with us cast their sheets of the same thick- 

 ness in all parts and of any desired weight up to 14 

 feet to the pound, and in no other way can founda- 

 tion lie made of the highest degree of excellence. 



Before condemning any kind of foundation, many 

 comparative tests by disinterested parties ought to 

 be made, noting carefully the characteristics of 

 each kind, with the age of the foundation, the 

 maker's name, and the mill upon which it is made. 

 I am not interested in the manufacture or sale of 

 any kind of foundation, but I am interested in the 

 honey market, and I think we can improve that 

 very much by making it certain that the consumer 

 has no cause to complain of hard unpalatable cen- 

 tei-s. P. H. Elwood. 



Starkville, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1888. 



Friend E., although we have not arrived at 

 the same concltision yoti have in this mat- 

 ter, we are right with you, heart and hand, 

 in regard to your closing sentence. We 

 want' the truth to come out, let it strike 

 where it may ; and you have given us some 

 valuahle points in regard to tliis matter of 

 foundation for surplus honey that have 

 never before, to my knowledge, been 

 brought out. The bee-keeper or bee-keep- 

 ers who use foundation by the ton ought to 

 know what is wanted, better than those of 

 us who use so little of it that it is of no 

 very great moment whether it is exactly 

 what it ought to be or not. 



SMALL-FRUIT RAISING IN CONNEC- 

 TION WITH BEE-KEEPING, ETC. 



ALSO SOMETniNG ABOUT CUTTING OUT QUEEN- 

 CELLS TO PREVENT SWAUMING. 



0N page 728 of Gleanings for 1887 I find these 

 words from Dr. Miller: " Perhaps I may 

 arouse Bro. G. M. Doolittle, by saying that I 

 think he has made one of the worst combina- 

 tions possible, in combining bee-keeping with 

 small-fruit raising." 



Well, Dr. M , so fhould I think so, if my small-fruit 

 ra sing were the same as you interpret it to be. But 

 all the business of this kind I have ever done, 

 except for family use, was along the line of seHi/ifif 

 pkuit.s. As this part of the small-fruit business 

 comes ill early spring, so far as digging and ship- 

 ping plants is concerned, it does not interfere in the 

 least with the bees; for at that time they are in the 

 cellar, or require little if any attention when out- 

 doors. Then, again, the rooting and caring for the 

 plants comes mainly in August, after the hurry 

 with the bees is over, so that it can be done about 

 as well as not, by the man who wishes to economize 

 all of his time. This plant-business, as above, can 



