82 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Februarv, 1922 



think that the wood base was the capping 

 of tlie comb, and they constructed queer 

 bridging effects and irregularities making 

 the combs quite unfit for use. 



As soon as we secured wood-base founda- 

 tion with a well-defined cell wall we found 

 that the bees built straight worker combs 

 without showing the slightest tendency to 

 make deformed or drone cells. In Septem- 

 ber, 1921, during a goldenrod honey flow we 

 selected 20 different colonies, removed two 

 full combs from each, and on one side of 

 each brood-nest we put a thin top-bar frame 

 with wood-base foundation, and on the other 

 side an ordinary frame with the regular 

 foundation, these frames in each case being 

 placed between the outside comb of brood 

 and combs of honey. In 48 hours all the 

 foundation was drawn out. We could see 

 very little difference between the wood base 

 and the regular, so far as the progress of 

 the work was concerned. There were no 

 defective cells drawn from the wood-base 

 foundation^ and the twenty combs were as 

 nearly perfect as any we have ever seen. 



The wood-base comb is as smooth as a 

 board, tho occasionally a comb shows a 

 slight curve because of the warping of the 

 wood veneer. We now believe that water- 

 proofing the pores of the wood overcomes 

 even this occasional defect. 



The wood is about as good a non-conduc- 

 tor of heat as wax. We find no tendency 

 for the queens to shun wood-base combs 

 after July 15, as they have done in the case 

 of the metal combs in our locality. In fact, 

 so far as we can tell now, the bees rear brood 

 in the wood-base combs just as readily as in 

 the combs built from regular foundation. 

 The advantage of the thin top-bar will be 



The result of extrartiim ih.- liiiiii'\ ii w oml-liase 



comb without a screen in tlie itocket of tlie extractor. 

 Tlie comb stood the strain all right, liut the wax cells 

 crushed into the braces of the pockets. This experi- 

 ment was merely to test the strength of the comb. 



recognized as one of the greatest impor- 

 tance, and, since the wood-base foundation 

 extends down between the halves of the split 

 bottom-bar, the comb is built solid to the 

 bottom-bar. In this way the cai)ncity of the 

 comb is considerably increased. 



I am not prepared to say that a swuriii 

 hived on a full set of frames containing 

 wood-base foundation will build a full set 

 of perfect combs. We have demonstrated 



that good combs result when the wood-base 

 foundation is drawn out between combs of 

 sealed brood or honey. Of course, that is 

 the best way to get a perfect comb even 

 from regular foundation. It is needless to 

 mention here that, if wood-base foundation 

 is given to the bees at a time when they are 

 not building combs, the results are no better 

 than if ordinary foundation were given at 

 such a time. While we have found no par- 



A t\ piral wijnd liasf roinb rniitaininj,' bmod in all 

 stages and honey. Tho not .shown in the illustration, 

 the unsealed brood extends practically to the bot- 

 tom-bar. 



ticular tendency to gnaw the wax off the 

 wood, we believe this is what would happen 

 under such circumstances. In fact, when- 

 ever bees would gnaw regular foundation 

 we think they would gnaw the wax off the 

 wood base. Any kind of foundation should 

 be given only when the bees soon will be 

 or actually are building combs. 



Wood-base foundation does not entirely 

 prevent the building of a few cells of drone 

 comb, for when any portion of the comb is 

 mutilated, the bees in repairing it will build 

 drone-cells, if the colony is strong a;id pros- 

 perous, just as they do when ordinary foun- 

 dation is used. 



The question might logically be asked 

 Avhether the flat base is as acceptable to 

 the bees as the pointed base of natural 

 comb. Apparently the bees try to point the 

 base; but, finding they cannot, they seem to 

 pay no more attention to this feature; at 

 least the wood-base comb is built about as 

 quickly as is a comb from regular founda- 

 tion. The base of the metal comb is not 

 iiatural; but, since the bees cannot change 

 it, they waste no time on it. The same is 

 true, so far as we can tell, in case of the 

 wood-base combs. The old flat base foun- 

 dation used years ago was modified by the 

 bees to a natural base. Because they can- 

 not do this in the metal combs nor in wood- 

 base combs, very sensibly they waste no 

 time over it. 



Tho we have tested hundreds of these 

 combs, wood-base foundation has not yet 

 proven to our satisfaction that it is perfect. 

 T can merely say that, so far, it ])romisos to 

 he the logical answer to the problem that 

 has troubled beekeepers for 50 years — the 

 problem of securing perfect and durable 

 combs. 



