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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



for one pound of foundation. And then the 

 increased yield that you report when separa- 

 tors are used. The arguments have always 

 been that the use of separators lessened the 

 yield, but you fay that without separators it 

 required 2)^ and 2}^ pounds, respectively, to 

 produce one pound of comb honey, while 

 only 1 3-5 was required to produce the same 

 amount when separators were used. These 

 statements appear very unreasonable with- 

 out a more complete explanation. Let us 

 hear more about it. friend D. — Ed. Review. 



How to Profitably Dispense With Comb 

 Foundation. 



H. K. BOAEDMAN. 



^^ Z. Hutchinson, — Dear Sir, I 

 '"^i^ have read your leader, and 

 it expresses my views very 

 fully. Yours etc. 



The above is about the response I had de- 

 decided to make to your invitation, but 

 when I remembered that I had promised 

 to make an effort, I felt just a little 

 ashamed to call that an effort. 



Well, when I commenced using foundation, 

 I went •' foundation crazy," as you say, and 

 used it iDdiscriminately everywhere and at 

 all times, not allowing any natural comb to 

 be built at all. 



I bought a foundation mill, and not only 

 worked up my own surplus wax, but also 

 bought considerable each year for this pur- 

 pose. I was not many years in finding out 

 that this was an expensive luxury ; that I 

 was making a great mistake in this matter. 

 I do not do that way now. I can't afford it 

 when the bees will furnish the material 

 themselves, do the work cheaper and make 

 a better job. 



I have not used any foundation in the 

 brood chamber, except for "starters," for 

 several years. I use it now only in the sec- 

 tions, and I am sure I could dispense with it 

 altogether, with no very serious detriment to 

 my business. I have more combs built now, 

 every year, than I have use for, and many of 

 the poorest are culled out and thrown into 

 the big solar wax extractor during the sum- 

 mer and rendered into wax ; thus I become a 

 producer instead of a consumer of this valu- 

 able product. 



As you say, foundation may sometimes be 

 used profitably during a rapid honey liow, 

 when there are no empty combs in the iiive 

 *«r efcorage, and wax is not; eecre<-ed fast 



enough for that purpose. In such an emer- 

 gency, after other resources are exhausted, I 

 agree that foundatiou may be used at a great 

 profit, but, iu all my yeax'S of bee-keeping, 

 such a crisis has never come to me, and is 

 not to be expected in this locality. With 

 my present managemeat I expect to keep 

 comb building sufficiei.tly in advance for 

 any emergency. 



I make comb honey a specialty, and hive 

 mo?t swarms on empty frames. This method 

 has been 6on~.ething ot a hobby with me for a 

 good many years. It has some very good 

 features and some faults. It cannot be relied 

 upon to produce perfect combs during the 

 swarming season unless the new colonies are 

 closely watched and the drone comb cut out 

 as fast as it is built. This, you say, seems 

 like a good deal of fussing. True, but it 

 furnishes some most beautiful white combs 

 to put in sections instead of using founda- 

 tion, and I thinjs: it pays as well, for this 

 purpose alone, as much other fussing done 

 iu the apiary. I like to raise a little honey, 

 for my own use at least, in this manner. 



This method enables me to control swarm- 

 ing to a greater extent than any other plan 

 that I know of. I don't wait for the swarm 

 to issue but forestall such plans by swarm- 

 ing the bees out, or shaking them out, 

 into the new hive when I think they are 

 about ready to swarm. I can see no differ- 

 ence between colonies so formed and natur- 

 al swarms. I think they are just as good in 

 every respect ; and then you know where 

 they are and have them ready for business. 



This plan forces the bees into the sections, 

 which are supposed to follow the swarm as 

 soon as the queen begins laying. There is 

 no guess work about it. The bees have no 

 choice. W'hcn they come home with their 

 baskets full of provisions, there is no other 

 place than the sections in which to empty 

 them ; and where work is once begun there 

 it is sure to continue. 



This plan al^o produces a surplus of wax. 

 If no increase is desired, these new colonies 

 may be unite Ivith the old ones, which have 

 young queens, at any time after the honey 

 season is over. The combs may then be as- 

 sorted at leisure, or they may be cut out for 

 wax ; always leaving a narrow strip along 

 the top bar for a new starter. These strips 

 of comb, when trimmed to a Level edge 

 with a sharp honey knife make much better 

 starters than foundation, and are already 

 fastened in tlia fi-ames. This you see dis- 



