Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



Gborgb W. York, Editor. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Free. 



38th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MARCH 24, 1898. 



No. 12. 



Something About the No- Wall Comb Foundation 



Since so much has been said in regard to the possibility of 

 producing foundation with deep walls, there has been consid- 

 erable discussion of the advisability of using such foundation, 

 and very plausible arguments have been brought forward in 

 support of it, but also of theopposite, or of a foundation with- 

 nut side-walls at all for the honey-sections. The greatest ob- 

 jection to high-wall foundation is the possible production of 

 comb honey in which the septum would be heavy. As a mat- 

 ter of course, if the foundation was made as thin as the bees 

 produce it naturally, the objectionable feature would be 

 avoided, but it is yet a problem whether this bind of founda- 

 tion may be produced in merchantable quantities. Mean- 

 while, I have noticed that the advocates of no-wall foundation 



I will say first that there is no doubt that the very lightest 

 foundation that can be made by machinery will be sufficient, 

 and will carry the weight of bees, if it is allowed to cool or 

 temper long enough before it is put into the hive. The aim 

 that will be attained by using an exceedingly light grade will 

 be the avoidance of the well-known "fish-bone." A founda- 

 tion with little or no cell-wall will be much more readily 

 modeled by the bees even If it did not come out of the hands 

 of the manufacturer In thinner sheets than other grades. 

 Hence the result reported that the comb built on a no-wall 

 foundation seemed about as thin as natural comb. 



Now as to the warping of this foundation, it comes from 

 a very simple fact. When the sheet of wax comes out from 

 between the rolls of the mill, there is nothing to draw it to 

 either roller, the result being that it sticks alternately to each 

 and "warps" as it comes out. We have long ago noticed that 

 foundation which sticks unevenly to the rollers as it is milled, 

 sticking partly to one and partly to the other, or first to one 

 and then to the other, does not prove satisfactory in the hive. 

 As we were both apiarists and manufacturers of foundation, 

 and making a specialty of both, this was one of the first things 

 we ascertained years ago. No matter hftw you may smooth it 

 down, the sheet which has warpt in the mill will warp in the 

 same way in the bee-hive. The deeper the cell-wall the more 

 damage to the sheet If it is warpt as it comes out. In our 



UnHnisht Combs Built from No-Wall Foundation. 



are out-spoken, and show a desire of further experiments In 

 this line. 



In the last January Bee-Keepers' Review, two dififerent 

 persons report on this foundation which was tried last year. 

 The greatest objection seems to come from the foundation 

 curling or warping when given to the bees. As this exppri- 

 mental no-wall foundation was made in our shops, I believe 

 that we can throw some light upon the subject, and show how 

 the difEculty above-mentioned may be avoided. 



practice we never allowed a single sheet which did not stick 

 uniformly to one roller to go to the shelf, but all such sheets 

 were mercilessly re-melted. With the no-wall foundation, if 

 we were to remelt the sheets that warp in coming out, tho 

 they do not warp to a great degree, we would not produce a 

 single sheet. 



The remedy for this is not difficult to find. Let one of 

 the rolls of the mill have a rudiment of cell-wall, just enough 

 to make the sheet fasten to this roll more than to the other. 



