189'r 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



139 



of the lighest, most fragile type is bad enough; 

 foundation walls one-half Inch deep will be an 

 ahominntiou. Unless I am greatly mistaken it will 

 be as great a blow to the sale of comb honey as 

 has adulieration to the extracted-honey market. 

 At least, let us trj' this thing most caiitioiisly. I 

 fear, too, that unscrupulous men would use this 

 product even if it did injure comb honey. Let us be 

 careful what we do in this line. 



I would not assert that artificial comb could not 

 be made having walls as thin as those of natural 

 comb, but they would still be of wax; and comb 

 honey having such a product as its base would be 

 little else thau honey " done up " i n tough, leathery, 

 "gobby" wax— not comb honey with its delicious, 

 fragile, toothsome, flaky comb. 



I believe that Mr. Hutchinson is thoroughly 

 honest in his convictions on this matter. In 

 fact, I once thought as he does; but Mr. Weed 

 knocked my theories into smithereens by hard 

 facts in the apiary. 



He had been experimenting and testing this 

 new product for nearly two years before we 

 said any thing about it in print. He has put it 

 on our hives, and had the bees draw it out— in 

 fact, tried it under all sorts of conditions. The 

 proof of the pudding is in the eating; and the 

 results in our apiary so far seem to show that 

 Mr. Hutchinson's fears are groundless. The 

 comb from the new product is not tough and 

 leathery at all. After a long series of experi- 

 ments* we have about come to the conclusion 

 that, in the use of foundation, the btes do not 

 utilize or in any way make use of the wax in 

 the base or septum; but they will utilize all the 

 wax in the side ivalls to the depth of % inch. 

 Ordinary roller-mill foundation has a surplus 

 of wax in the wrong place. We are aiming in 

 the new product to put it in the right place. 

 With this end in view, Mr. Wetd has been ex- 

 perimenting along the line of making deep-cell 

 foundation, the bases of which are just as thin 

 as the natural; and the walls, instead of xAn 

 inch thick, as in the natural, are t^\t(j. Careful 

 measurements last year showed that the bees 

 reduced this tbIjtt down to about t^^^^. The sur- 

 plus wax was simply used to build up the depth 

 of the cells. 



I grant that there is fishbone to some extent, 

 resulting from the use of comb foundation; but 

 the reason of this is that at present there is 

 more wax in the bases than there needs to be; 

 and the wax in the side walls is in such shape 

 that the bees do not utilize all of it. There- 

 suit is that a midrib is left in the center of the 

 comb, thicker than will be found in combs built 

 wholly by the bees. In the new product we pro- 

 pose to put this wax where it will not be detect- 

 ed in the eating. The very snag, then, that 

 Mr. Hutchinson is afraid we shall run into is 

 the very one we would avoid in the new prod- 

 uct. In other words, it is not proposed to use 

 more wax than we now use in thin foundation; 

 but we do aim to put that wax in such shape 

 that bees will utilize it in such a way as to 

 leave no midrib or fishbone in comb honey. 



*Mr. Taylor's observations as given in the Review 

 are quite in line with our own experience. 



Mr. Hutchinson need have no fears that we 

 shall rush on the market the new deep-cell 

 foundation in any quantity this season. At 

 present we have only one small machine, and 

 turn out pieces about 4x5 inches. We are 

 working on another machine to make samples 

 perhaps 5xS inches. The machinery and dies 

 necessary for the purpose are very expensive, 

 and, even with the larger machines, the output 

 will be very limited. If bee-keepers are holding 

 back their orders for foundation, expecting the 

 new product in quantity this season, they will 

 be disappointed. They had better make their 

 requirements, irrespective of the new article, 

 and in the mean time we will try to furnish a 

 super or two of the new deep-cell foundation to 

 those who wish to try it. 

 After reading the above, Mr. Weed added: 

 It seems to me that Mr. Hutchinson ought to have 

 put his "Earnest Warning" at the head of Mr. 

 Baldridge's article in the same issue. Mr B. " prefers 

 light brood to thin foundation for drawn combs," 

 or, in other words, proposes to use much more wax 

 than I do. Would not Mr. Baldridge's " abomina- 

 tion" be still more of a temptation to " unscrupulous 

 men " ? 



APICULTURAL LNVENTIONS AND THEIK DEVEL- 

 OPMENT. 



At the Michigan State Bee-keepers' conven- 

 tion, reported in the American Bee Journal, 

 Mr. T. F. Bingham, of smoker fame, in his pa- 

 per on principles in apiculture, closes up thus: 



In counting up the inventions pertaining to bee- 

 keeping, which have been long tested, weighed in 

 the balance and not found wanting — inventions 

 which no one has been able to Improve or improve 

 upon— I find no other State has made so many 

 valuable inventions since the invention of the 

 hanging movable-comb frame by the Rev. L. L. 

 Langstroth, as has Michigan. 



This may or may not be true; but one thing I 

 believe is true— that Ohio has done more to de- 

 velop and put into practical use inventions and 

 improvements in apiculture than any other 

 State in the Union. Before our Mr. A. I. Root 

 began the sale of supplies, very little had been 

 done in the way of developing inventions of 

 merit. I do not think it is egotistical to say 

 that he pushed into public favor the honey 

 extractor, comb foundation, section honey- 

 boxes, and did, perhaps, more than any other 

 man to make Langstroth dimensions standard. 

 In later times we have popularized self-spac- 

 ing frames; improved the construction of hive- 

 corners and hive-covers; bettered the quality 

 of foundation; and now we are introducing the 

 new drawn or deep cell-wall foundation. 



AMALGAMATION DEFEATED. 



Just as we go to press, the certified report of 

 the judges of election for the National Bee- 

 keepers Union has come to hand, showing that 

 amalgamation is defeated two to one, and all 

 the old officers reelected, including General 

 Manager Newman. In view of the reasons 

 stated on page 60, the result is no surprise. 

 Gleanings bows to the will of the majority. 

 No room to squeeze in more this time. 



