THOUSAND ANSWERS 55 



those sections and foundation this year, or had I better cut it out 

 and put in new foundation? 



A. If it is clean, with no remains of candied honey, use it 

 again. 



Q. How and when is it best to have brood-combs drawn out, 

 or made from full sheets of comb foundation? 



A, Give such frames of foundation any time when bees are 

 gathering more than enough honey for their daily needs, if you 

 think they will not stop gathering before they have time to finish 

 the combs. Of course, that's as much as to say that the very best 

 time is at the beginning of a harvest that you have good reason 

 to expect will last two weeks or more. A strong colony, of 

 course, will need less time than a weak one. 



Q. Can I put frames with full sheets of foundation between 

 two combs and get good worker-combs that are not stretched too 

 much at the top? I mean without wiring. 



A. You may, by using foundation splints or very heavy foun- 

 dation. Even then you will not always get the best results be- 

 tween two drawn-out combs, for too often these combs will be 

 bulged into the comb between them. 



Q. Will bees draw out foundation as soon when it has been 

 in the frame three months as they would if only in the frame 

 three weeks? I like to put my foundation in the frames in the 

 winter time, when I have plenty of time. This is to be the new 

 foundation just made. 



A. Speaking very strictly, I suppose the fresher the founda- 

 tion is, the better. But I have used foundation that had been 

 fastened in four or five years, and I've some question whether the 

 bees made any great difference between that and that which had 

 been put in only four or five days. At any rate, I believe it good 

 policy to get it ready in advance, as you propose. 



Q. A successful honey producer says full sheets of foundation 

 are drawn down to the bottom-bar very much better when 

 placed in a super than in the brood-nest. Is this so? 



A. Sure. 



Comb Foundation Gnawed by Bees. — Q. What is the reason 

 that the bees gnaw the foundation starters in the brood-chamber? 

 I have found two or three starters lying at the bottom of the 

 frames. A few days later I found a strip that they had carried 

 out in front of the hive. 



A. The starter may have been insufficiently fastened; there 

 may have been something objectionable about the foundation ; it 

 may have been that the bees were not gathering, and at such a 



