238 



THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



ference in the thickness and weight of combs 

 that had been looked for. This mistake was 

 remedied the present year by procuring for 

 tiie purpose of the experiment sections of a 

 width of IX inches or nine to the foot so that 

 it required thirty-six of them to till a case 

 instead of twenty-eight as of the others. 



The other reason for the partial failure of 

 the experiment last year was the palpable 

 mistake of attempting to compare directly 

 more than two kinds of foundation in the 

 same quarter of a case. This error was cor- 

 rected this year by devoting at least one- 

 half of a case to each two kinds sought to 

 be compared. 



During the present season seven varieties 

 of foundation were employed in making the 

 experiment and six comparisons were made 

 — that known as the Given foundation — of 

 my own manufacture — being used in com- 

 parison with each of the other six. The six 

 were what is known as the fiat-bottom from 

 the factory of J. Van Deusen & Son, Sprout 

 Brook, N. Y., the Dadaut, made by C. Da- 

 dant & Son., Hamilton, 111., the Hunt, made 

 by M. H. Hunt, Bell Branch, Mich., the 

 Root, made by A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio, 

 and the other two were made from wax se- 

 lected by M. H. Hunt — the Given-Hunt be- 

 ing made on the Given press and the Root- 

 Hunt, by A. 1. Root, on his roller mill. The 

 two last and the Hunt were the result of an 

 efEort to get samples made on three different 

 mills from the same lot of sheeted wax, but 

 judging from the difference in the shade of 

 the wax composing the sheets and that com- 

 posing the foundation of Mr. Hunt who fur- 

 nished both, as well as from the somewhat 

 contradictory results obtained it would ap- 

 pear that the plan miscarried. 



The approximate weight of each kind 

 tested, appears from the following table : 



Sheets to Size of sheets 



Name. the lb. 

 Van Deusen 32 

 Given .. ..25.5 

 Dadant .... 32 



Hunt 32 



Root ... 3-' 

 Given-Hunt 24 

 Root-Hunt.. 26. 66 



iu inches. 



8x8 



3Mxl5 



37exl6)^ 



3^x15 



3^x15 

 3^19M 



Inches in Feet 

 the lb. per lb 



2048 



1434.375 



2046 



1800 

 1980 

 1356 

 1975 



14. 



9.91 

 14.21 

 12.50 

 13.75 



9.375 

 13.715 



In all, four cases of sections were used in 

 making the experiment, one whole one of 

 each was devoted to the comparison of the 

 Hunt with the Given and of the Van Deusen 

 with the Given and to the others but one- 

 half a case. In the table hereinafter pre- 

 sented giving the results from a comparison 

 by weights in order to make the object les- 



son more complete where only half a case 

 was used for any kind the weights are 

 doubled so that all may stand before the eye 

 upon the same footing. 



In order to show to the eye the difference 

 in the work of the bees upon the different 

 foundations a photo, of the honey was taken, 

 from which the accompanying engraving 

 was made ; in explanation of which it should 

 be said that the honey was removed from 

 the cases and arranged as here shown and if 

 an imaginary perpendicular line is made 

 dividing the lot into two equal parts it will 

 leave each section related to its neighbors 

 exactly as it stood in the case so that a fair 

 idea of the comparative advantage which 

 each kind of foundation presented to the 

 bees may be obtained by a simple inspection 

 of the engraving. As will be seen each sec- 

 tion is labeled with the name of the founda- 

 tion with which it was filled from which the 

 place of each lot is readily seen. Thus the 

 sections containing the Hunt foundation 

 tested, occupy the upper one-fourth of the 

 picture and that containing the Van Deusen 

 the lower right one-fourth and so on. In 

 the case of the latter the difference in the 

 thickness of the combs made from the two 

 kinds of foundation is very clear, in the case 

 of the former, the difference, though not 

 great, is still apparent. 



The following is a table showing the 

 weight of each lot separately and in connec- 

 tion with the weight of the kind alternated 

 with it in the case so that the comparative 

 desirability of each in the view of the bees 

 is seen at a glance : 



Name of fdn. No. of Sec'ns. Wt. lbs. 



(Jase No. 1 ... ^ Given 18 11^ 



\ Hunt 18 12)4 



" No. 2 ... \ Given 18 13 



\ Root 18 11 



' No 3... S Given 18 14 



\ Dadant 18 10 



.' No. 4... <, Given 18 15^ 



\ Van Deusen 18 9'/4 



" No. 5 . . . S Given 18 13i^ 



\ Given-Huut 18 10% 



" No. 6 ... <i Given 18 14>^ 



\ Root-Hunt 18 10 



The success of the experiment has been 

 very gratifying and it is thought demon- 

 strates the utility of the method pursued, 

 for the purpose of determining the quality 

 of foundation. 



The results are so evident that it is hardly 

 necessary to say much iu explanation of 

 them, but it may be of service to call atten- 

 tion to two or three points which might es- 

 cape the attention of some. 



