64 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' HEVIEW. 



to the foundation or the bees, yet it does not 

 look nice, and, as I said before, the looks has 

 more to do with the selling of it than any 

 one thing. In conclusion I must say, that 

 although the demand for Given foundation 

 is not nearly so great, either in Canada or 

 the United States, as it was a few years ago, 

 I use no other and shall continue to use only 

 that kind, except for experiment, until I am 

 satisfied that there is a better kind. 



Stbatfoed, Ont. 



Feb. 9, 18G4. 



How to Make Good Wax.— The Character- 

 istics of Good Foundation. 



O. A, HATCH. 



" Howekillfully she builds her cell, 

 How neat she spreads her wax !" 



For us to do our part as well 

 Requires some knocks and knacks. 



(HE wax is the most important thing in 

 foundation making. If the wax is 

 poor, no matter how well the founda- 

 tion is made the result is sure to be unsatis- 

 factory when submitted to the bees. Poor 

 wax may be pure wax or it may be what was 

 once good wax but has been spoiled by 

 handling. Wax that is the least bit scorched 

 is unfit for foundation ; bees do not like it 

 and it cannot be used except at a loss. Wax 

 made entirely from cappings does not make 

 the best foundation — it is too hard and brit- 

 tle. And here let me say, Mr. Editor, that I 

 have never found any wax that was brittle 

 but it was also hard. 



Color has but little to do with foundation 

 being good or bad. Of course, if one is 

 making foundation to sell it must not be off 

 color, any more than butter for general mnr- 

 keli must be off color, a certain color is de- 

 manded by the trade and it is the duty of 

 the manufacturer to comply with the de- 

 mand or he soon loses his trade. Some of 

 the best foundation I ever had, however, was 

 of dark gray wax which no customer would 

 look at. 



The hard ess and toughness of the wax is 

 all important ; color amounts to nothing only 

 to please customers. Wax from old combs 

 is always better than that from new combs. 

 Who can tell why ? Age makes wax hard, 

 yet old coinbs always give w 'X of good color 

 and both soft and tough. Who knows but 

 the pollen always present in old combs gives 

 it this desirable character ? Or is it the 



saliva of the bees used in the repeated pol- 

 ishing of the cells that effects the change ? 



Wax rendered at as low a temperature as 

 possible and allowed to remain melted only 

 long enough to get separated from the re- 

 fuse, is better than that rendered at a high 

 temperature at a long time. Therefore, in 

 rendering wax it should be done as quickly 

 as possible. 



The kind of water used in rendering wax is 

 of importance Hard water or water con- 

 taining iron in solution are both objection- 

 able, especially the latter. I nearly ruined 

 some wax I was helping a friend prepare for 

 the Columbian fair by putting into it some 

 water highly impregnated with iron. This 

 water was so strong in iron that bright tin 

 put into it soon turned color. Wax in all its 

 processes should not come in contact with 

 either iron or tin vessels, copper only seems 

 to be proof against the acid contained in it. 



Wax being the natural product of the bee 

 why should it not be as uniform as the fat 

 product of cattle (tallow) V We know that 

 wax is far from being uniform in any one 

 thing. But are we sure that it is not the re- 

 sult of the pollen in the combs or some other 

 outside cause rather than the variation of the 

 original wax scales ? 



I have had some wax too soft to make thin 

 foundation at all, and other lots so hard that 

 it was almost worthless. What caused it ? 

 Can change of food effect so great a change 

 in the fatty product ? 



You spoke in your editorial of natural 

 comb being more brittle than drawn founda- 

 tion, can not this be simply a mechanical 

 difference ? Ice is frozen water, so is snow ; 

 if you take a small magnifying glass and 

 look at natural comb and drawn foundation 

 you will find about the same difference there 

 is between snow and ice, the natural comb 

 representing the snow and the drawn the ice. 

 This may be accounted for in part by the 

 fact that natural comb is made up of minute 

 scales not always perfectly joined while the 

 foundation is one homogeneous mass, more 

 solid and therefore tougher. 



[Your explanation is as I understand the 

 matter, and in addition, there is a residue of 

 something when comb is melted into wax. 

 —Ed.] 



The best foundation I ever used was made 

 on plaster casts, but I have my doubts about 

 it being enough better to pay for the extra 

 cost of making. So let us go slow on this 

 tendency to accept only pressed foundation, 



