GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1922 



with combs having as a base some material 

 other than wax, which would stiffen the wax 

 and prevent distortion of the cell and break- 

 ing of the comb in the high-speed extractor. 



Wire Cloth. 



Foundation having wire cloth incorporat- 

 ed in the base has a very attractive appear- 

 ance and the bees draw out the cells nicely. 

 There is not enough metal to conduct the 

 heat to or from the brood, and, of course, 

 such combs will not stretch or sag, provided 



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Foundation having a base of tougli Bristol board. 



Combs built ou such foundation are imiversally 



unsatisfactory. 



the wire cloth is firmly fastened to the 

 frames. This, however, is a difficult achieve- 

 ment, and the expense and labor necessitated 

 in securing to the frames foundation with a 

 wire-cloth base are quite an objection. 



Celluloid. 



About three years ago we made some foun- 

 dation with a celluloid base, coating some 

 old roll film photographic negatives with 

 wax and running them thru the mill. The 

 celluloid yields just enough in the pressure 



The early attempts in maiiiim' MO(i(l-i)ase inundation 



were not a success. Note above the irregular cells 



and drone-cells, a result of insufficient cell wall. 



of the mill so that the base is quite natural. 

 The combs built from such foundation do 

 not sag, but the celluloid has an unfortunate 

 tendency to spring out and in, like the bot- 

 tom of an oil can, throwing the midrib to 

 one side or other of the center of the frame. 

 Moreover, celluloid after a time dries out 

 and becomes very brittle. We fear that 

 breakage would ultimately result in the ex- 

 tractor. 



Paper and Bristol Board. 

 In spite of the early experiments of A. I. 

 Boot we next tried \ii\T(\ cardbparrl and even 



bristol board, the latter being so hard .111 d 

 tough that it could hardly be cut with a 

 knife. Both these materials are objection- 

 able in that, because of being fibrous, the 

 bees gnaw the wax off and then proceed to 

 gnaw the paper. In the moisture of the hive 

 or when thin honey is placed in the cells, 

 the paper also tends to blister, so that the 

 combs in a short time are entirely unfit for 

 use. 



We have not tried any kind of cloth, be- 

 cause A. I. Boot's early experiences with 

 this were so convincing; furthermore, others 

 who have tried the cloth since have found 

 the same trouble — the bees consider it a for- 

 eign substance and proceed to gnaw it away. 



Bakelite. 



To a limited extent we have tried founda- 

 tion with a bakelite base. Bakelite is a 

 material which is used quite extensively in 

 a number of ways, one of the most common 

 uses being for pipe stems. For making foun- 

 dation the bakelite can be obtained in very 



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This wood-base comb was one of a full set on which, 

 fifteen months prior to the time the picture was 

 taken, a swarm had been hived. The colony built 

 up to full strength, wintered well in 1920-1921 and 

 appears to be normal in every respect today. Note 

 the brood close to the top-bar. 



thin sheets with a cloth center. The bakelite 

 renders the cloth very hard and smooth wit'i 

 a glass-like surface. While our experiments 

 are not conclusive as yet, we fear that the 

 expense of this material will be an objec- 

 tion; also that its odor of carbolic acid will 

 prove offensive to the bees. 



Wood Base Foundation. 



The foundation that has given us by far 

 the best results is that having a base of thin 

 wood veneer with the grain running vertic- 

 ally. We hived a weak colony on such foun- 

 dation in the spring of 1920. The colony 

 built up nicely, wintered well in 1920-1921 

 and seemed to be normal in every respect 

 last season. Brood was reared close to the 

 top-bars. In fact, we have seen sealed brood 

 in the row of cells adjoining the top-bar. 

 There is, of course, no possibility of sagging 

 or stretching, and the cells are not deformed 

 in the upper part of the combs; therefore 

 the brood area is greatly enlarged. Thin 



