84 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



dinary foundation. According to the weigh- 

 ings that I have made, the amount added is 

 ■equal to about two-thirds the weight of the 

 septum in natural comb, so the saving of wax 

 from the use of the drawn foundation would 

 not be as much as would at first seem. 



On the whole I am pleased with the drawn 

 foundation, and would heartily recommend its 

 trial, at least, by the practical bee keeper who 

 wishes to obtain the largest possible crop of 

 comb honey. 



[In commenting on the above, Mr. Thomp- 

 son adds the following. — Ed.] 



The samples of foundation and septa which 

 Prof. Gillette passed around were arranged in 

 pairs, each pair clamped at the ends between 

 two pieces of section wood, clinched together 

 with light nails. They illustrated very com- 

 pletely all the points which the lecturer made. 

 In addition there were some sections contain- 

 ing uncapped and extracted comb built from 

 drawn foundation, etc. One of these sections 

 contained a starter of the heavy brood founda- 

 tion mentioned, the lower edge of which was 

 blackened by lampblack. This had been left 

 but a short time with the bees, so that the cells 

 were scarcely altered : but at the juncture of 

 the foundation with the wood on both sides, 

 and along the V grooves, even the bottom 

 ones, were vivid inky l'nes, showing that the 

 bees not only thin foundation, but also carry 

 away the wax thus obtained and use it else- 

 where. 



In regard to the reason why the bees should 

 deposit wax along the angles of drawn founda- 

 tion, Mr. Aikin thought it might be because 

 the bees always desire to first make the cell- 

 base rounding. This they always do in build- 

 ing natural comb, and in thinning foundation, 

 not making the three flat little surfaces appear 

 in each base until afterward. The high side 

 walls in drawn foundation keep them from go- 

 ing through the rounding-out process in the 

 ordinary way, and so they approximate to it 

 by depositing wax in the angles. Again, bees 

 always make a thick line of wax at the edge 

 of what they are working at, whether cell- 

 bases or cell-walls ; and thinning is not done 

 unless the portions to be thinned can be got 

 at from all sides. These are not just Mr. Ai- 

 kin's words, but I think they represent his 

 idea. He is also of the opinion that factory- 

 made foundation is pressed too hard to be 

 easily worked by the bees. 



The point occurred to me, which Mr. Aikin 

 agreed with me in thinking important, that a 

 good supplementary experiment would be to 

 make from natural comb an imitation of the 

 artificial drawn foundation, by cutting off the 

 cells on both sides at the proper depth, and 

 putting this in sections ; then after completed 

 honey-comb has been built upon it, extract, 

 remove cell-walls, wash, and weigh the sep- 

 tum, just as was done with the septum of 

 drawn foundation after it had been worked by 

 the bees ; and compare the results with the 

 septum of worked drawn foundation on the 

 one hand and the septum of once built natural 

 comb on the other. If it should prove no 

 heavier than the latter, that would show that 



the reason bees increase the weight of drawn 

 foundation is in some way connected with its 

 manufacture ; but if it should show an in- 

 crease in weight similar to that which takes 

 place in the septum of drawn foundation, then 

 it would show that there is no use in trying to 

 make more perfect artificial comb, because 

 perfection itself — natural comb — fails under 

 those conditions. I suspect that the latter 

 will be found to be the case, for we know al- 

 ready that bait combs are gobbier than those 

 built while the honey is stored. 



Prof. Gillette's table is also of interest in an- 

 other way, for the "very heavy foundation " 

 he refers to was made on my Rietsche press, 

 and is a little heavier than I succeeded in get- 

 ting it ; and the medium brood foundation is 

 Dadant's make, by the Weed process, and was 

 quite fresh when the test was made. Of this, 

 more later. 



Denver, Col., Dec. 19, 1898. 



[Mr. Weed replies:] 



The fact that the drawn foundation had a 

 thinner septum than natural comb, fully ac- 

 counts for the thickening mentioned. 1 find 

 that, where the base is as heavy as or heavier 

 than natural comb, no such thickening takes 

 place. Where the base of the cells is cut clear 

 through, the patching is very noticeable. I 

 don't think it is quite fair to test drawn foun- 

 daiion and ordinary foundation side by side. 

 It is admitted that bees transfer wax from 

 one comb to another, and I am positive that, 

 in some cases, at least, the old style of founda- 

 tion is the gainer through the proximity of 

 the drawn foundation. Again, it is probable 

 that it is natural for the bees to secrete a cer- 

 tain amount of wax in a honey flow; and 

 where the two styles of foundation are side by 

 side they might use the newly secreted wax 

 upon the old st} le of foundation where it was 

 needed more than upon the drawn foundation. 

 • Regarding the difference in color, I find 

 that, where wax is reworked by the bees, the 

 yellow tinge entirely disappears ; and it seems 

 probable that a foundation with a thin base, 

 and heavy wall, of moderate height (say yi- 

 inch), will have every advantage that last sea- 

 son's drawn foundation possessed. 



Medina, O. E. B. WEED. 



DRAWN FOUNDATION. 

 A Careful Examination of its Advantages. 



BY h. STACHELHAUSEN. 



In Gleanings for Nov. 1 I find an edito- 

 rial about your drawn foundation, and it seems 

 you are willing to give up the manufacture of 

 the same. I should be sorry for this, because 

 I still think that this foundation has some ad- 

 vantages if used in the right way. I am the 

 only one of your readers who reported favor- 

 ably on it, and so I hope you will give me 

 some space to defend my position. 



- You tell us that Mr. Niver and Mr. Cogg- 

 shall found, during the buckwheat flow, that 

 the bees draw out and fill the drawn founda- 

 tion at about the same time as common foun- 



