Apiary Experiments. 19 



a tendency to secure the building of worker comb throughout. It 

 has one disadvantage, and that is its large size and short line of at- 

 tachment, so that if it is not well secured at the top the bees are 

 liable to cluster upon it and pull it loose. ■ The long, narrow piece 

 placed across the top of the section, Figure/, has given rather bet- 

 ter results than any of the preceding, as the bees usually attach it 

 quickly at the ends, thus closing the top corners. I have also used 

 many starters like the preceding, but extending about half way 

 down. Figures h, i and j represent comb on such starters. It will 

 be noticed there are no holes in the upper corner or sides. At n is 

 a section of comb built on -a full-sized starter, as shown at g. It 

 will be noticed that the comb cells are all uniform in size and the 

 comb evenly filled out. Such comb when filled and capped, is 

 handsome in appearance, like the samples shown at s, and brings 

 the highest market price. In my experiments the sheets that ex- 

 tended half way down gave as good results as those that filled the 

 section. The use of small pieces of foundation in the lower corners, 

 as shown at Figure c, gave no beneficial results. 



The use of short strips of foundation in the middle of the bot- 

 tom of the section, as shown at h, has resulted in somewhat better 

 attached combs at the bottom of the section, especially during a 

 slow honey flow. 



Figures Ic, I and m show how comb is usually extended from a 

 small piece of foundation, leaving, very often, holes in both upper cor- 

 ners. If the honey is coming in slowly and the colony is not very 

 strong, the sections are liable to be finished like the two shown at o 

 and 'p of the same plate. Not only are these sections light in weight 

 and slow to sell, but they will not ship well, for the jar of handling 

 will break many from their attachments in the sections. I have 

 found, however, that such sections of honey are due much more to a 

 weak condition of the colony and a poor honey fiow than to the man- 

 ner of using foundation. Under such conditions even large pieces of 

 foundation are often gnawed away, as shown at Figures q and r. 

 When the colony is strong and the honey flow good, small pieces 

 of foundation, like the one shown at a, will often produce just as 

 finely filled sections as can be obtained from full-sized pieces with 

 strips below. Moral : Keep the colonies strong. 



Comb built upon foundation is always tougher and more waxy 

 than the natural comb, and a cross-section will show that the mid- 

 rib and bases of the cells are darker in color. So that while the 

 large pieces of foundation result in a somewhat finer appearing 

 capped honey, the small starters will result in a more delicate and 

 brittle comb. 



ADVANTAGES PROM THE USE OP SEPARATORS. 



Most producers of comb honey recognize the advantage in the 

 use of thin strips of wood or tin between the rows of sections m the 



