94 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



overlooked when other experiments are 

 made. I would suggest that experiments be 

 made in manipulating the wax before it is 

 made into foundation. Every one who has 

 made grafting wax is aware how much bet- 

 ter it becomes by manipulating it as soon as 

 it gets cool enough to handle ; and the more 

 it is worked the lighter in color and better it 

 seems 1 5 become. The difference between 

 comb and melted wax is, I presume, in the 

 mechanical arrangement of the molecules, 

 and it may be that this difiference is largely 

 due to the manipulating of the wax scales by 

 the bees. It may be possible to make con- 

 siderable improvement in foundation by this 

 means, and to very closely imitate natural 

 comb. 



I am interested to know what the results 

 of such an experiment as this would be : 

 Suppose four sets of sections are taken, the 

 first set to be tilled with natural comb with 

 the cell walls removed or nearly so, leaving 

 the septum or ba^k of the combs. The second 

 set to be filled with foundation having the 

 thin> est and hardest possible septum with 

 only incipient side walls. The third set to 

 be filled with Given foundation, and the 

 fourth with plain sheets of wax of about the 

 same weight per foot as the Given founda- 

 tion, enough sections to be used to fill a 

 super and no two of a kind to be put togeth- 

 er. They to be put on a hive containing a 

 strong colony of bees in normal condition. 

 As bees do not like any foreign substance in 

 their hives, my opinion is that they will at- 

 tack the plain sheets of wax first, and com- 

 mence to remove them. Owing to the Given 

 foundation being more vnnatural than that 

 in the second set of sections, 1 believs the 

 bees well attack this next. Finding in it the 

 imprint of cells (its only redeeming feature) 

 they will make it into comb, instead of treat- 

 ing it as they did the wax sheets. I think 

 they will next attack the other foundation 

 an , last of all, the natural comb. This ex- 

 periment may at first appear of a trivial na- 

 ture, but a little thought will make it appear 

 otherwise. It may show us that bees work 

 one kind ot foundation before another chief- 

 ly because of its more unnatural character — 

 an attempt to remedy the greater evil first. 

 The softness of the foundation may have 

 something to do too with their preference ; 

 but probably not as much as we think, for any 

 foundation must be very soft and plastic in 

 a strong colony of bees during the honey 

 season. 



It seems to me that experiments in the use 

 of foundation in sections should be carried 

 on during a series of years, for what may 

 take place in one season may not in another 

 owing to different conditions being rresent. 



Because bees prefer one kind of founda- 

 tion to another, is not of itself conclusive 

 proof that the kind preferred is the best to 

 use, for it is possible that they may produce 

 just as much honey with the other kind. 

 There must be something more than a mere 

 preference by the bees to commend it. 

 Neither is the fac that thinner septa were 

 made from the heavier Given foundation 

 than from the lighter grade, as shown by the 

 experiments at the Michigan Experimental 

 Station, conclusive proof that the former is 

 preferable to the latter, for it would give 

 more melted wax to the comb, which is un- 

 desirable. Now, if I were compelled to eat 

 melted butter mixed with that in its natural 

 state, I should insist on having as little as 

 possible of the former mixed vith it. When 

 I eat comb honey, 1 want as little melted wax 

 in the comb as possible. I am of the decided 

 opinion that we should have our comb honey 

 as natural as possible in both honey and 

 comb. If we try to chew empty comb made 

 from foundation, we shall find that it be- 

 comes a tough mass, and is not easily broken 

 into pieces. If we treat natural comb in the 

 same way we will find it of a more brittle 

 nature. For this reason I think the less wax 

 there is in foundation for sections, other 

 things being equal, the better. Unless one 

 has a fancy trade, small starters answer suf- 

 ficiently well for all practical purposes. 



In the treatment of this topic, we must 

 bear in mind that bees will sometimes build 

 comb on foundation and alter the founda- 

 tion but little if at all. A neighbor found 

 this to be the case when examining a brood 

 comb built, he tlynks, on medium brood 

 foundation and which was made on a roller 

 machine. He says that by pressing against 

 the sides of the cells they would separate in 

 a mass from the foundation leaving it about 

 the same as when put into the frame. It is 

 possible that some of the trouble from " fish 

 bone " in comb honey comes from this 

 source. 



I have never had a compl tint from any 

 customer, about " fish bone " in my comb 

 honey, but one season one asked me why the 

 honey I had sold her contained so much 

 wax. I could give no reason for it, unless 

 the bees sometimes used too much wax in 



