18i>7 



(ir.KAN'INCS IN 1{EE CULTURE. 



331 



dmwn-onv voiiih lii'ked oloan after oxlrac.ting is 

 niiich harder than the same set away covered 

 with honey. In the latter case, however, the 

 lioney stored in them is much more liable to 

 candy. Before the production of Hat-bottom 

 foundation, and when foundation for surplus 

 probably weighed fully twice what it dues now, 

 Mr J. E. Crane, of Vermont, visited us. He 

 sunk the knife into a plate of honey, and, on 

 meeting much resistance at the midrib, looked 

 up and said: "Do you use foundation in your 

 sections?" I answered, "No." Again he 

 pushed, and again he looked up with inquiry, 

 surprise, and I mistrusted doubt, written on 

 his countenance. The section of honey he had 

 sampled was probably a bail comb wintered 

 over, and drone. 



For some years we have used in our surplus 

 the Van Deusen flat-bottom foundation weigh- 

 ing not less than 12 ft. to the pound, and we 

 have been spared any experiences similar to the 

 above; for on the average our honey has less 

 wax in it than natural comb honey. To disarm 

 criticism, and because wax used in making 

 foundation is not of as good quality as the 

 newly built comb, I prefer to have the base 

 somewhat thinner than the bees make It. 



The samples from your new machine are just 

 received and show a marked improvement over 

 the first. With my present knowledge, until a , 

 thorough trial proves me wrong. I prefer the 

 sample with 3^-inch side walls, and weighing 

 12 ft. to the pound. This must prove very ac- 

 ceptable to both bees and consumers. The 

 part of the side wall that the bees sometimes 

 neglect to thin is at the very bottom, where It 

 is attached to the midrib. I notice in your 

 samples that this purt shows no greater tlnVk- 

 ness to the naked eye ihan the remainder of 

 the cell wall. The cell walls and septum of 

 these samples are so thin, and the quality of 

 the wax is such, that, after repeat' d trials, I 

 have not succeeded in chewing a mouthful into 

 a " gob." Thick foundation made of poor wax 

 has the "gob" at both start and finish. I do 

 not wish to flatter you; but I believe you have 

 the most valuable invention of recent years in 

 bee-keeping. 



I do not share the opinion of some, that this 

 invention, nor any thing else, wilf stop the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey. Comb honey can 

 not take the place of extracted for hot cakes 

 and other domestic uses; also large quantities 

 are used in the manufactures. The proposed 

 tariff on sugar will soon increase the wholesale 

 price of extracted honey, while the retail price 

 in the home market is usually two-thirds the 

 price of comb honey, and a much greater quan- 

 tity can be retailed of the former. Allow your 

 honey to remain on the hives until well ripened, 

 and you will have no trouble to dispose of a 

 large quantity. 



Starkville, N. Y., April 20. 



[After such an able article as this it Is unnec- 

 essary for me to add any thing; for the writer 

 shows that he knows what he is talking about. 

 It is well known tliat Mr. Elwood is one of the 

 most extensive beekeepers of the world. His 

 large experience, his thorough knowledge of 

 the business, his scholarly attainments, and 

 gentemunly bearing, lend great weight to what 

 he ha>i so ably said. One such article as this is 

 worth hundreds of ariicle.^of abuse directed at 

 our name and honor at the instigation of a sin- 

 gle competitor. 



Here is another strong article from a bee- 

 keeper of international reputation who feels 

 deeply indignant over the unfair and unreason- 

 ing mi'thoiJs that have been taken. He prefers 

 to use a 710/71 de plunie.—Ei).] 



NOTHING BUT NOISE. 



THE NEW DRAWN FOUNDATION AND ITS 

 EXEMIES. 



Adulterators'? Yes. Who are adulterators? 

 Nearly all of the great multitude of bee-keepers 

 of the world. Who says so? A late issue 

 of one of the bee-papers. How do you 

 make that out ? By their own words; for every 

 writer of that symposium is using, and has 

 been using during the past, something which is 

 just as much of an adulteration as the proposed 

 drawn or deep-cell-wall foundation which they 

 are now crying out against. If there is any 

 difference between a comb foundation with 

 heavy rudiments for cells, from a thirty-second 

 of an inch to one-sixteenth of an inch high, and 

 a comb foundation having those rudiments 

 extended to three sixteenths of an inch on each 

 side, thus forming the same amount of wax 

 into short thin cells, nearly as thin as the 

 bees themselves make, then the writers of 

 those articles in that bee paper have failed to 

 sho'w it. If the one is an adulteration, then 

 the whole foundation business is an adultera- 

 tion, and they are sittin<? in the same "saddle" 

 with the Roots and Weed in this matter, as the 

 words of their own mouth prove— they not giv- 

 ing any practical argument to the contrary. 

 Come, gentlemen, bo consistent, and give us 

 some proof in this adulteration matter, or else 

 throw the whole foundation business overboard 

 as a sinful thing. You say you use only enough 

 foundation to secure combs built straight in 

 the sections, and to start the bees in the same 

 as quickly as possible. Is not the new deep- 

 cell-wall foundation for the same purpose? 

 and will it not answer that purpose better? 

 Why have you not been shouting to your cus- 

 tomers in the past, " Second-hand chewing of 

 wax," "shipped with tallow," "stinking hides," 

 "old lard," and " in-contact-with-all-nastiness" 

 wax, before, when you have been pushing the 

 same thing on the public, for lo! these many 

 years ? You must have forgotten that all com- 

 mercial wax goes through a cleansing process 

 with water, etc., by the Dadants, the Roots, 

 and others, and yourselves probably, that takes 



