112 ONE YEAR AMONG THE BEES. 



merely a starter of about half an inch at the top only, but perhaps 

 all will agree with me that the double starter is the best. I fasten a 

 three-eighths-inch piece on the bottom, and bring it to within one- 

 half of an inch at the bottom, as is shown in cut, with the top starter. 

 As the bees work it out, it will stretch until it will nearly, but not 

 quite, meet, if the best thin foundation is used. It will thus make 

 the best union, and a section thus furnished will make a good, smooth, 

 solid section of honey, the difference being more noticeable when the 

 flow of honey is rather moderate or uneven. At 5 is seen a pile of the 

 raw foundation honeycomb. 



Foundation comb is one of the most valuable inventions of modern 

 bee-culture. For the benefit of those who are not well acquainted 

 with it I will say, that it is made of pure beeswax, and molded out 

 in very thin sheets, and then passed between rollers having dies of 

 the exact size and shape of the base or the natural honeycomb, thus 

 leaving the impression of the base of the cell on the sheet of wax. See 

 figure 20, further on, and you will see comb 1 representing the raw 

 foundation, and comb 2 one day's work by the bees. We will explain 

 this more fully when we reach it. 



No one who pretends to keep bees should be without this founda- 

 tion comb. It has been said that bees consume twenty pounds of honey 

 to produce one pound of wax, and more conservative writers figure 

 it down to fifteen pounds ; but just think of it, the price of foundation 

 is on an average about forty-five cents per pound. Now, if one pound 

 of this will save fifteen pounds of honey, is it not plain enough that 

 it pays well to use it ? Not only this, but by its use we can have 

 frames of comb straight as a board, and every inch of it worker founda- 

 tion besides, and we are not bothered with thousands of worthless 

 drone bees in the hive ; this it prevents, as you are doubtless aware 

 of the fact that bees cannot rear drones in worker comb, but must 

 have the large drone cells to rear them in. 



SUPER FOR HOLDING THE SECTIONS. 



The super here shown for holding the sections on the hive, similar 

 to what is called the "T super," I consider one of the best. It holds 

 the sections in place better than any other I have used. The super, 

 when filled with honey, is more rigid, and less liable to become loose 

 in handling, and the sections of honey are more easily removed from 

 it. The illustration shows the bottom of crate, the section rests, and 

 a few sections in place. The section rests are made of a piece of wood 

 three-eighths of an inch thick and three-fourths of an inch deep, with 

 a strip of tin one inch wide tacked on the narrow edge of the same, 

 the tin being one-fourth of an inch shorter at the ends. These sec- 

 tion rests are held in place by a wire staple driven in super as shown 



