igo FITTINGS AND APPARATUS. [Ch. iv. 



§ IX. COMB FOUNDATIONS. 



This is an, American attempt to improve on our 

 impressed wax sheets. In the proffered assistance to 

 the bees there is here some advance, for not only are 

 the lozenge-shaped plates at the base of each cell more 

 clearly stamped and defined, but the sides of the cells 

 are slightly begun — so deep are the impressions that the 

 foundations of the walls are actually laid. 



Being quite a nev/ invention, there has not been much 

 time for fully testing it, but we find from American bee- 

 keepers that when used-in large sheets there is the same 

 difficulty as with our impressed wax — the bees will twist 

 them. As specimens of work these comb foundations 

 are certainly very commendable for appearance. The 

 white ones seem too white to be of pure wax, and any 

 substitute offered to bees has hitherto proved a failure. 

 ]\Ir. Baldridge, a frequent correspondent of the American 

 Bee y^ournal, speaks of the yellow sheets as far prefer- 

 able to the pure white, but some that are made partly 

 of paraffin he considers of little worth. Possibly the 

 material of which they are manufactured may be made 

 to suit the delicate senses of the bees. Until this is 

 the case, hindrance rather than help in comb-building 

 will be the result of placing them in the frames and 

 sectional or other supers. The mode of fixing is the 

 same as described for impressed wax sheets. 



