10 



FARMERS' BULLETIN, No. 129. 



Wiring Frames. 



Tinned wire can be obtained for this purpose, and is sold in |-lb. and 1-lb. 

 reels The reel should be placed in a small box, and a round stick or piece 

 of wire passed through to act as an axle ; a hole in the box opposite the reel 

 to pass the wire through will, complete the work, and will save many incon- 

 venient kinks and tangles. 



Place four wires in the full-depth frames and two in shallow supers, as 

 illustrated. (Fig. 4.) 



Small tacks, driven nearly home, are convenient for fastening the ends of 

 the wire. Give the wire a few turns round the tack, then hammer almost 

 home. Wires are used for bracing the foundation and to give support to the 

 combs. 



Fig 3— The Corre»t Arrangement of the end Bars. 



Fig. *. 



Comb Foundation. 



Comb foundation is so important to the apiarist that its use can be classed 

 as absolutely necessary. It acts as a guide so that the bees will build the 

 comb straight in the frames ; and with its help, the bees get to work 

 quickly, and the best breeding combs are produced. By using comb founda- 

 tion it is also possible to regulate the number of drones in the hive. 



Concerning the grade of comb foundation to use, I would advise "medium 

 brood" for all purposes, apart from the production of comb honey, and 

 " thin surplus " for use in section boxes. It pays to make a general practice 

 of using full sheets of comb foundation, and by their use, if correctly 

 adjusted, the apiarist will be sure of having good combs for breeding and 

 storing purposes all through the hi\-e — a necessity in these times, when the 

 use of queen excluders is undesired when producing extracted honey. 



Bees will build straight comljs from strips of foundation, but the progress 

 is usually slow and unsatisfactory, and, therefore, strips should only be used 

 when the apiarist is not in a position to supply full sheets. The best effect 

 I have obtained from the use of strips of foundation was in the hiving of a 

 large natural swarm, though even in such a case it would pay to use full 

 sheets. 



Apiarists usually obtain their foundation by forwarding their wax to the 

 factory to be made up. 



Fastening Foundation in Frames. 



To prepare for the work of fastening foundation in the frames obtain 



(1) a board about f-inch in thickness, and cut to fit the frames easily ; 



(2) a spur wire imbedder ; and (3) a roller for pressing the foundation on the 

 top bar. The latter are made in two classes— one for the moulded comb 

 guide frames and one for the flat top bar. 



