Apiary Experiments. 13 



are considerably heavier thau samples of natural worker comb of 

 approximately the same thickness. 



The sample of comb 1.25 inches thick on extra thin super 

 foundation is but .10 of a grain heavier than the average of the two 

 samples of natural comb of the same thickness. The sample 1.22 

 inches thick is fully as light in proportion to its thickness. The 

 two thinner comb samples on this foundation do not compare quite 

 as favorably with the natural. 



The thickest sample of natural comb measured 1.37 inches, and 

 weighed 13 grains to the square inch. No sample on artificial foun- 

 dation as thick weighed so little, while one sample 1.25 inches thick 

 on thin super foundation (A) weighed the same. All samples oveV 

 .75 of an inch thick on medium brood and very heavy foundations 

 weighed from about one-fourth to two-thirds heavier, or from 16.50 

 to 19.50 grains to the square inch. The sample 1.13 inches thick 

 on deep-cell foundation put out in 1898 exceeds in weight the 

 thickest sample of natural comb by 1.9 grains to the square inch. 



The samples of natural comb 1.34 and 1.33 of an inch thick are 

 also exceeded in weight by the same thinner samples of comb on 

 artificial foundations just mentioned. 



The heavier sample of natural comb measuring 1.25 inches 

 thick is exceeded in lightness by one sample of comb on thin super 

 foundation of the same thickness, while the other sample of the 

 latter is heavier than the natural. 



The two thickest samples of comb on "1898" deep-cell founda- 

 tion average one-seventeenth thicker than the thickest sample of 

 natural comb, but their weights average more than one-fourth 

 heavier than those of the latter. Their comparsion with the next 

 two samples of worker comb would be still less favorable to the foun- 

 dation. 



The sample of natural comb measuring 1.13 inches thick seems 

 not to be unusually light, as the sample 1.15 t^iick weighed no 

 more; the one that was 1.18 thick hardly exceeded it, and the one 

 1.20 thick weighed even less. Comparing this comb with the sam- 

 ple of the same thickness on the "1898" deep-cell foundation, we find 

 the latter is heavier than the former by more than one-half the 

 weight of the natural comb. In other words, it is heavier than the 

 natural comb by almost exactly the weight of the deep- cell founda- 

 tion. The two samples of comb on this foundation that are .60 and 

 .56 of an inch thick respectively are as heavy or heavier than any 

 of the samples of natural worker comb measuring from 1.20 inches 

 in thickness down. 



The "1899" deep-cell foundation produced a comb much nearer 

 the natural in lightness. Comparing the sample 1.50 inches thick with 

 the natural sample 1.37 thick, we see there is but 1.50 grains differ- 

 ence in weight, which would be fully accounted for by the greater 



