340 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



iu attempting to compare too many kinds 

 at once in one and the same case, for it is 

 evident if three sections containing founda- 

 tion equally good were placed side by side 

 and the trio was flanked on either side by 

 sections with inferior foundation the two ex- 

 terior ones of the trio would derive an ad- 

 vantage on the side of the inferior ones 

 which the central one containing equally 

 good foundation would be deprived of, and 

 then sections of the usual width, seven to 

 the foot, were employed in the experiment 

 which it became evident in the progress of 

 the experiment were too wide to yield to the 

 full the natural effect of differences in the 

 foundation, for I saw iu several cases that 

 the bees worked out some kinds of founda- 

 tion sooner and more rapidly than others at 

 first but when these reached about the thick- 

 ness required for brood they were delayed to 

 some extent and more force was put on the 

 kinds that lagged to bring them up, so that 

 in this way the results sought which would 

 perhaps be abundantly revealed by the use 

 of thinner sections were to a large extent 

 concealed. 



The remedy which should be applied in 

 further experiments of this character seems 

 to me to be evident ; each sort of foundation 

 which it is deemed desirable to compare 

 with others should be compared with each of 

 them separately and the sections should be 

 so thin that the usual thickness of com I) de- 

 sired by the bees would a little more than 

 fill the section's proportionate amount of 

 space. 



I have been asked whether in publishing 

 the results of these exT)eriments 1 should 

 give the names of the manufacturers of the 

 different fonndations used. The object of 

 the experiments is to obtain for the use of 

 bee-keepers generally as much new and val- 

 uable knowledge with regard to their tools 

 and bus ness as possible and it is evident 

 that in the particular experiments of which 

 I now write tlie value of the results depends 

 almost entirely upon a knowledge of the 

 names of the makers of the several varieties 

 of foundation used and I believe I should be 

 doing injustice to any maker of foundation 

 to suppose that Im desired his name with- 

 held, for are we not bound to believe that 

 each one desires and is endeavoring to make 

 foundation that shall yield the grei'test pos- 

 sible profit to the user and that if he fails in 

 any respect he desires to know it that he 

 may apply the remedy ? So I think I can- 



not do otherwise than give all the knowledge 

 I possess in the matter. Not that I think 

 there is anything so far that can very injuri- 

 ously affect any manufacturer, but I hope 

 there is what may prove an entering wedge 

 to make a way of es ape from the domain of 

 theory and an entrance to the domain of 

 fact in this matter of foundation and lead to 

 an effort to make it to please the mandibles 

 of the bee instead of the eye of the pur- 

 chaser. There may be something to learn 

 yet about the manipulation of wax as well 

 as about the peculiarities of foundation ma- 

 chines. 



In the experiments now under considera- 

 tion eight varieties of foundation were em- 

 ployed of which the sources and other dis- 

 tinguishing peculiarities are sufficiently in- 

 dicated in the following table : 



A Dadanf s Thin, Sheets 12^4 in., l.'i to !4 lb — 



10 ft. to the lb. 

 H Dadanfs Extra Thin, Sheets 12x4 in., 18 to 



4 lb.— 12 ft. to the lb. 

 (' Van D(*usen's Flat-bottom, | procured of A. 1. 



Root] Sheets 16'ix3?^ in.. Itj to '/j lb.,— 13.7r> 



ft. to the lb. 

 D Roots Thin, Sheets VoViTl^H in., 12 to '4 lb — 



10.31 ft. to the lb. 

 E Roofs Extra Thin. Sheets U%x3?i in., U to 



14 ll).-l'.?.03ft. totiielb- 

 F Foundation made on Given Press, Sheets 



15x8 i:i-lti in., 12;'4 to Yi lb.-10.()9 ft. to the lb. 

 (i Foundation made on Given Press, Sheets 



1.5x3 131fi in.. 12 to U lb-— 9 37 ft. to the lb. 

 H Fdn. three years old. made on Given Press, 



about 9 ft. to the lb. 



Each variety of the foundation was desig- 

 nated by a letter of the alphabet as indica- 

 ted and tlie letters were used for marking 

 the sections to indicate the sort of founda- 

 tion each contained and also as labels to 

 distinguish the septa of combs made 

 from the foundation when they (the septa) 

 were cut out and sent away for the meas- 

 urements hereinafter explained. 



The foundation was cut to the same size 

 ?>%ii''>^i inches and after being fastened in 

 sections were placed in Heddon cases alter- 

 nately as already stated so that each kind 

 appeared seven times iu each pair of cases. 

 In all, eight cases were thus prepared, but 

 misfortune attended them in other ways 

 than indicated in the foregoing ; some were 

 not well tilled, two contained more bee-bread 

 than I ever found I think in any other two 

 cases and there was only one pair that was 

 filled to my entire satisfaction so that the 

 material that could be fairly used for com- 

 parison by weighing was comparatively 

 meagre and consisted of five of each sort 

 from the two cases that were well filled, 

 four of each from two other cases and three 



