THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



4^ 



Given foundation has not been subjected to 

 this hardening process. While I am not pre- 

 pared to prove that the theory is false, 1 wish 

 to suggest it as a question for scientific in- 

 vestigation at our experimental station, .and 

 will give some reasons for doubting its cor- 

 rectness. 



About the time this theory was advanced, 

 the writer invented and introduced a very 

 cheap foundation machine, intended for 

 those who wished to make their own founda- 

 tion. It consisted of a pair of plaster of 

 Paris dies hinged together like those of the 

 Given machine, only these were not used in 

 a press. The melted wax was dropped evenly 

 upon the upper horizontal surface of one 

 leaf of the die or mold, while the other leaf 

 was quickly clapped down, sending the sur- 

 plus melted wax out from between them 

 with a "squirt" into the water tank which 

 enclosed the molds. The sheet of founda- 

 tion thus formed at one operation was soon 

 cool enough to remove oipon opening the 

 mold. 



This machine was heralded with enthusi- 

 asm by many prominent bee men who be- 

 lieved in the theory regarding the qualities 

 of foundation made without hard pressure. 



Supported largely by this theory, the plas- 

 ter mold enjoyed a degree of popularity for 

 several years while it was offered for sale. 



It's life was short, but active, and more or 

 less useful. Most of my customers were sat- 

 isfied with it and its work. It was the inven- 

 tor's own loss of faith in their merits that 

 induced him to withdraw all a,dvertisement8 

 and let the mold give place to the improved 

 roller mills which were then offered at great- 

 ly reduced prices, which would make a more 

 perfect impression and which were far more- 

 durable than the molds. 



After using two of these machines for 

 several years, Bro. Doolittle gave an unso- 

 licited but glowing testimonial for them in 

 one of the journals which sent me a shower 

 of letters and orders, but this was after I 

 began to " let the old cat die." Why did I 

 let it die ? Because the molds were not suf- 

 ficiently durable in the hands of the average 

 operator to make their use profitable, unless 

 there were special advantages in their favor : 

 because in spite of the soft wax theory, there 

 appeared more or less of the " fish bone " in 

 the comb made on the foundation, owing 

 partly to the fact that the septum could not 

 be made uniformly as thin as with other 

 machines. 



Molded foundation proved to be much 

 more brittle and liable to crack and crumble 

 when handled in cool weather, than that 

 from the roller press under the same con- 

 ditions. 



This in itself is not a serious objection to 

 the molding process, but it may throw some 

 light on the theory that pressed wax is hard- 

 er than unpressed. If at a low temperature 

 the pressed or wrought wax is more pliable 

 than the unpressed, or that molded in the 

 liquid state, may we not suppose that it is 

 more plastic at a comb building tempera- 

 ture ? The conclusion of the matter to which 

 I feel inclined is that if there is any advan- 

 tage in extra thick side walls for section 

 foundation, it is because with them we are 

 able to combine the advantages of the thin- 

 nest possible septum with the necessary 

 strength in the sheet of founaation, rather 

 than because the wax is softer in such side 

 walls. 



Whatever the best form of cell may be, it 

 can be formed between rollers better than 

 between die plates. 



It has been claimed that foundation with 

 round cells is stronger than that of equal 

 weight with hexagonal cells ; in other words 

 that for the greatest strength for the mate- 

 rial used, the side walls of the cells should 

 not be of uniform thickness throughout, but 

 should be much thicker where they unite 

 with each other, and very thin midway be- 

 tween these points. This seems contrary to 

 the principle that " nothing is stronger than 

 its weakest point." 



Aside from the item of strength, and we 

 must depend chiefly upon the network of 

 side walls for this, when we have determined 

 just how wide and how high we may make 

 these ribs of wax and yet depend upon the 

 bee to always utilize all of the material, the 

 perfect side wall will be of these dimensions 

 at every point, which will result in a per- 

 fectly hexagonal cell, with corners clean cut. 



The construction of the bee's mandibles is 

 such that she can grasp a heavy side wall 

 between them, reaching to the bottom on 

 either side, but according to my observation 

 she cannot always be depended upon to util- 

 ize all of this material in lengthening out 

 the cells, especially that portion in the cor- 

 ners of the cells when the deposits there is 

 heavier in proportion than elsewhere as in 

 case of round-cell foundation. 



Mt. Vebnon, Iowa. 



Jan. 6, 1894. 



