SUGAR, MOLASSES, CONFECTIONS, AND HONEY. 863 



toward the center of tbe cornb, as is the case with the natural product. His appa- 

 ratus was designed to produce a comb in every respect resembling the natural comb 

 built by bees. 



When the dies described in the drawings have been properly adjusted the " honey- 

 comb is produced by pouring through an opening in the top of the die casings and 

 frame melted beeswax. This fills the dies, and when the latter are separated a per- 

 fect comb appears. 



<; This comb may then be placed in the hive and will be used by the bees, thus 

 saviug the insects the labor of building combs, and causing them to spend the time 

 otherwise appropriated to the above work in the gathering and storing of honey." 



No. 198648, ISSUED DECEMBER 25, 1877. 



A. E. McConnell, of New Orleans, claims an invention for supplying thin strips of 

 wax, at certain distances apart in the hive, whereby bees are enabled to econom- 

 ically and rapidly construct their combs. This device is hardly to be considered as 

 an artificial comb or foundation, but is so classed by the Patent Office. 



No. -200549, ISSUED FEBRUARY 19, 1878. 



This is the invention of Alfred B. Lawther, of Chicago. The object of the inven- 

 tion is to "provide combs of suitable form and material, ready-made, for honey bees 

 to store their honey in, thus saving them the labor of preparing the wax and con- 

 structing combs in the usual manner, thereby greatly increasing their power to 

 gather honey." 



The comb is made complete of a web of paper, cloth, or suitable material, which 

 after molding is saturated with melted wax. The excess of coating is thrown off by 

 a centrifugal machine. The "advantage arising from my invention is that combs 

 constructed accordingly can be filled and emptied repeatedly without breaking, the 

 honey being extracted by means of a centrifugal machine, or as commonly done with 

 other honeycombs when it is desired to use them a second time." 



No. 207057, ISSUED AUGUST 13, 1878. 



Martin Metcalf, of Battle Creek, Mich. The foundation is made of cloth saturated 

 with starch, so that when stamped it will retain the impression of the dies. The 

 whole is then coated with wax. 



" The ordinary wax foundation now used frequently softens with heat and will sag 

 by reason thereof, and its own weight added to that of the gathering bees causing 

 an elongation of the indentations and consequent enlargement of the completed bee 

 cells. Such enlarged cells are totally unfit for the cradles of working bees, and the 

 queen will but seldom deposit her eggs in them, and when she does drones only hatch 

 therefrom." This defect, it is claimed, this invention will avoid. 



No. 208595, ISSUED OCTOBER 1, 1878. 



In favor of John E. Hetherington, of Cherry Valley, N. Y. This invention consists 

 in the "combination with a comb foundation of wires which pass through the founda- 

 tion and prevent it from sagging and stretching and also strengthen it, making it 

 less liable to breakage while being handled." 



No. 215336, ISSUED MAY 13, 1879. 



By John Y. Detwiler, of Toledo, Ohio. This patent claims an improvement in artifi- 

 cial bases for honeycombs. The object of the invention is to overcome the difficul- 

 ties which pertain to foundations made wholly of beeswax. The base of metallic 

 foil is coated on both sides with beeswax, and this forms the base of the comb. It is 

 claimed that only a minimum quantity of wax is required by this kind of foundation 



