§vill.] IMPRESSED IVAX SHEETS. 189 



has however the objection that it slightly diminishes the 

 space. The wax plates must not'Cxtend to the bottom 

 of the frame ; a space of at least one inch should be left 

 for expansion, because the bees, in working the plate, 

 stretch it down lower. We also use a few pins firmly 

 pressed ^into the frames, and long enough to reach the 

 edge of the plate ; for by fixing three or four pins on 

 each side, both at the sides and at the bottom, the plate 

 may be held in an exactly central position within the 

 frame. 



We are now disposed to make a great modification in 

 the above directions, and, instead of using entire sheets 

 of wax, we cut strips from them of about an inch in 

 width, and place these in the bars as before, when they 

 form an edged projection of half or three-quarters of an 

 inch. We have found an objection to the entire sheets 

 in the fact that they sometimes curl and break with the 

 weight of the bees — so eagerly does a new swarm apply 

 itself to work upon them — and thus become an obstruc- 

 tion instead of a help. 



Strips of cardboard or wood shaving, dipped in hot 

 wax or well besmeared therewith, may be substituted for 

 the wax strips themselves. Where no slit is made for 

 the insertion of either, the shaving running down the 

 lower edge of the bar may be simply rubbed with hot 

 wax, and the same purpose will be served. 



