THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



69 



bone " in either. If more wax is desirable 

 in foundation designed for use in the sec- 

 tions, the Given has decided advantages over 

 that made on the roller machines, as it is 

 certain the side walls are softer and contain 

 more wax, with an exceedingly thin septum ; 

 and dies can be made with high side walls as 

 is desired ; but is it an advantage ? I am in 

 doubt. Why ? The foundation will certain- 

 ly weigh more to the square foot and will not 

 go so far, thus making it more expensive. 

 This is a decided objection, as in my experi- 

 enc3 the average bee-keeper wants his foun- 

 dation as thin as possible so as to reduce its 

 cost, as, of course, the thinner it is the more 

 sections a pound will fill. The ' fish bone " 

 with him counting for little or nothing. 



One of the greatest advantages of the Giv- 

 en press is the ease and facility with which 

 foundation can be made. It requires but 

 ordinary common sense and a little experi- 

 ence, to make a fair article^ as, once the wax 

 is sheeted, a boy can press it. 



This same facility, strange as it may seem, 

 was one of the reasons why Given founda- 

 tion was forced out of the market. How so ? 

 Every one that had a press made foundation, 

 and as few had the facilities or took the 

 trouble, to clarify the wax, a large amount 

 was made of dark, dirty, impure wax, and 

 such foundation could not for a moment 

 compete with that made by large concerns 

 from purified wax ; and, having no market 

 for the dirty stuff, the manufacture ceased : 

 and the manufacture of foundation to-day 

 is in t e hands of the comparatively few, 

 who, knowing how, and having the facilities, 

 took the pains to make an attractive article. 

 And this is as it should be, for any one with 

 less than one hundred colonies should not 

 bother with making his own foundation. 

 Beyond that number, a Given press and dies 

 are a safe, profitable investment. 



Wax that has been adulterated, or that has 

 been boiled too long, or that has been burnt, 

 or scorched in rendering it from the combs, 

 is unfit for making foundation. So, too, in 

 nay judgment, is that which has been ren- 

 dered or clarified with muriatic acid. It 

 certainly hardens the wax. There is no 

 great secret in clarifying even the darkest 

 wax. It only requires that the melted wax 

 be kept in liquid form at a low temperature 

 as long as possible, before hardening. If 

 any dark matter remains, re-melt and pro- 

 ceed as before, as often as required. 



Belleville, Ills. Feb. 20, 1894. 



Those "Apiary Reports."— Why the Given 



Press Makes Softer Foundation than 



that Made on Bolls. 



DB. A. B. MASON. 



J H A V E been very 

 interested in 

 Hon. R. L. Tay- 

 lor's experiments 

 at the Michigan ex 

 perimental apiary, 

 but in none more 

 so than in those re- 

 lating to founda- 

 tion, and I'm glad 

 that we can get 

 these reports of 

 his experiments 

 soon after they are made, and without hav- 

 ing to wait for them to be made to the State 

 and then get them when about a year old, 

 less or more, and if he can get anything out 

 of yo I for them I'm glad of it ; he gets paid 

 for his extra work and we bee-keepers get 

 the benefit of it. If some of the bee journals 

 don't think you and Bro. Taylor are doing 

 just the right thing they seem to be perfectly 

 willing to receive " stolen good "* and not 

 pay a cent for it, and I hope we shall be per- 

 mitted to know right long just what Bro. 

 Taylor is doing, and not be obliged to wait 

 for the results till the State publishes them. 

 I was not at all surprised at the result as 

 shown by Mr. Taylor submitting different 

 makes of foundation to juries composed of 

 bees. They hadn't real the papers, so went 

 to work without having their judgments 

 warped all out of shape by what they had 

 heard. 



I have used a Given press about 12 years, 

 having made nearly all my own foundation, 

 and many times more for my neighbors, and 

 all who used it were well pleased with it. I 

 have used foundation that was made on dif- 

 ferent mills, but prefer that made on the 

 Given press to any of the other makes I've 

 used. I prefer it because the bees seemed 

 to work on it more readily and rapidly than 

 on that made on mills. I say seemed, because 

 I never conducted any experiments to test 

 the matter of which was really the most 

 profitable to use. 



I have read with much interest your leader 

 on "how to make the best foundation," 

 also Mr. Oliver Foster's article on " the 



* Don't put an s on the end of " good " for I 

 mean " stolen good " and not GOODS. 



