GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



the exception, in this case, because, besides 

 entirely preventing burr-combs under the sec- 

 tions, the honey-boards very largely diminish 

 travel-stain on the section honey, better, I 

 think, than thick top-bars do. I am not sure 

 of this, having be2n too busy to observe accu- 

 rately, but that is my general impression. 



WEED DRAWN FOUND.\TION. 



Question. — I noticed last spring that you 

 would try the deep-cell foundation. How did 

 it prove with you ? Do you ihink it will be 

 of any help toward the retarding of swarming ? 

 If v^e could only work for comb honey, and 

 not be bothere'd with swarms, how nice it 

 would be ! 



Answer. — I received two lots of the deep- 

 cell foundation — one made of white wax, the 

 latter part of the winter, and one of 3^ellow 

 wax, this latter reaching me about the 10th of 

 July. The latter appeared to be nearly per- 

 fect, but, like all other samples which I receiv- 

 ed, it had what is known as the " flat base " to 

 the cells. It was carefully fitted into sections, 

 and put on the hives, a few sections to the 

 hive, alternated with comb foundation of the 

 Falconer make, just before basswood opened, 

 so as to give it the best possible test, as bass- 

 wood is our main honey-flower in this locality. 

 But during a period of three weeks, in which 

 it rained every day, our honey crop came near 

 being a failure ; and the result was, that very 

 few of the sections having this drawn founda- 

 tion in them were finished fit for market. I 

 put the date of giving the sections to the bees 

 on each section, and at the end of three days 

 took out some sections containing this deep 

 foundation and that of the Falconers' make. 

 At the end of six days I took out more of 

 each, and a careful comparison of each shows 

 that the difference in appearance at the end of 

 three da3's was not enough so that it can be 

 detected, while at six days the difference is in 

 favor of the foundation, the best specimens 

 from foundation showing a weight of three- 

 fourths of an ounce more of honey stored 

 therein than was stored in the best specimens 

 of the drawn foundation, while many more of 

 the sections with the ordinary foundation 

 were completed than of those containing the 

 drawn foundation. This was very much 

 against my expectations, for I had great 

 hopes that this deep-cell-walled foundation 

 was to be a boon to bee-keepers, if it could be 

 made at a price to come within the reach of 

 the average practical apiarist. When I found 

 that disappointment was the record made, 

 after a very careful trial, I began to look to 

 see what was the trouble that the " thing did 

 not pan out " as I had expected. I was not 

 long in discovering that the trouble was in 

 the flat base. I had used much ordinary foun- 

 dation having the flat base, both of the Van 



Deusen and other makes; but with such foun- 

 dation the bees always changed the flat base 

 to that of natural comb, both with thin foun- 

 dation and that made for the brood-frames, so 

 that, after the same was filled with honey or 

 brood, little difi'erence between the base of 

 what was once flat-bottomed foundation and 

 that which had the natural base, could be 

 seen. But when the high cell-walls were put 

 on this flat base, it placed the bees where it 

 was impossible for them to manipulate the 

 base so as to change it from the flat to the 

 natural shape, and their efforts in this direc- 

 tion caused them to be longer in perfecting 

 section honey from this new deep-cell-walled 

 foundation than where the ordinary was used. 

 It also caused them to complete some sections 

 on one side, while the other side remained 

 almost untouched. 



On cutting through the honey of sections 

 which had been completed, and on looking 

 into the cells of those not completed, it was 

 easily seen that, in their efforts to change the 

 base to the cells, the bees had put wax all 

 around in the sharp angles at the base of the 

 cells — so much so that, in many instances, the 

 bottoms had a rounded appearance. Not only 

 did I find this, but in a tew instances it was 

 evident that propolis had been used instead of 

 wax, while the whole base in much of the 

 unused part was varnished over with propolis 

 till it was glossy, almost equal to varnish. 

 This thickening of the base made the resis- 

 tance in cutting the combs of section honey 

 much greater than was that of the foundation, 

 after completion, which every one admitted 

 whom I asked to try the matter. Then when 

 it came to eating the two, there was a half 

 more of accumulated wax in the mouth from 

 the drawn foundation than from the same- 

 sized piece built from foundation. To show 

 the real difference in the two I tried the 

 resistance at the end of No. 16 wire, and found, 

 with an average, from a five-trial test with 

 each, that the resistance from the samples 

 sent in the winter was 10^ ounces; from that 

 sent in the summer (made from j'ellow wax) 

 it was 8'4 ounces, while from that built from 

 foundation it was only .53.4.' ounces. In each 

 of these trials, well-filled sections were taken, 

 which were nicely capped over, or in market- 

 able shape. 



As has been spoken of in G1.EANINGS, I 

 have no doubt that the poor season had very 

 much to do with the matter ; and had the 

 season been an extra good one the bees would 

 have rushed hone}- into the cells without 

 stopping to add the extra wax in the corners. 

 But it will be remembered that much of the 

 help to bee-keepers would come, by way of 

 drawn comb, in a poor season, thereby en- 

 abling us to get something of a crop of honey, 

 as we do with partly filled sections left over 

 from the previous season, could drawn comb 

 be as readily accepted by the bees as are these 

 partly filled sections. Then if swarming is to 

 be retarded, as our questioner hints at, the 

 bees must not be averse to accepting what we 

 give them, but, on the contrary, be only too 

 eager to work on the same, thereby forgetting 

 their desire to swarm. 



