"WAX AND COMB. 



199 



To obviate this many consider wire essential. I esteem 

 foundation thus supported, valuable from the aid the 

 wires give the completed 

 combs, rendering them 

 less liable to be broken 

 from the frames while 

 handling. Flat bottom 

 foundation and the pro- 

 cess of incorporating wire 



(see fig. 79, a) were invent- ^'s- 79, a.-FouND^TioN with wires. 

 ed and patented by Capt. J. E. Hetherington, the well- 

 known and extensive apiarian, and is now controlled by 

 J. VanDeusen & Sons, Sprout Brook, N. Y., who are the 

 sole manufacturers. 



USES AND TALUB OF FOUNDATION. 



Foundation would be valuable, if only used as guides 

 in frames, as it would be a means of securing straight 

 combs. But its full worth is best appreciated, when com- 

 plete frames of it are put into the brood-nest. The value 

 of full cards of perfect worker-comb cannot be over-esti- 

 mated, and in no other way can they be so economically 

 produced. We are also able to entii'ely control the quan- 

 tity of worker-comb, and exclude drone-comb at pleasure. 

 The value of foundations in hastening the increase of 

 bees, is apparent. Those without a supply of empty 

 combs, may, during the spring months, use foundations 

 to advantage. I have, when transferring, thus filled up a 

 desired number of frames and placed them in the center 

 of a strong colony when apple-blossoms were yielding 

 honey. In 48 hours, the cells were drawn out, and filled 

 with eggs. It is clear that the value of the bees reared in 

 such combs, in advance of those that could not be ma- 

 tured until natural combs were built, would more than 

 equal the cost of the foundations. 



If honey is being gathered rapidly, I should pronounce 

 good foundations at such times, superior to empty combs. 



