MOULDING. 373 
edges are trimmed with a sharp knife, and two smooth sheets 
of wax are pecled off. If the sheets are intended for heavy 
foundation, twice as many diys are necessary. The wax 
should be liquid but not hot. If it is too hot, the sheets 
will crack. ‘To secure rapid work, you must have a room 
arranged purposely for the dippers, with a zinc or tin floor 
to catch the drips of water and wax. 
690. The illustration, here given, (see plate) shows one 
of the moulding tables in our foundation factory. The sheet 
wax, after a few days’ cooling in a deep and dry cellar, is 
tempered, in the moulding tank with warm water, and run 
through the rollers. The latter are lubricated with starch, 
or soapsuds. When soapsuds are used, it is very import- 
ant that the sheets be pressed so tightly in the rollers, as 
to come out dry. This also makes a better print. The 
foundation, as fast as it comes from the rollers, is laid upon 
a hard wood block — a dozen sheets or more, atatime. A 
wooden pattern is laid over them, and they are trimmed to 
the proper size, by a knife made for the purpose, whose 
blade has been wet with soapsuds. ‘The projecting edges 
are trimmed off, and the damaged sheets are melted over 
for future use. 
For the thin grades of foundation, the narrower the 
sheets are, the thinner the foundation can be made. A 
wide sheet spreads the rollers by springing the shafts to a 
certain extent, and is heavier. 
G91. The manufacture of foundation, which at first 
seemed likely to be undertaken by every Apiarist, has 
become an industry of itself, owing to the greater skill and 
speed acquired by those who make it daily. It might be 
compared to cigar making. Any Apiarist can make wax 
into sheets and run it through rollers, and any farmer can 
raise tobacco and roll its leaves into cigars, but, to the 
uninitiated, a neat sheet of foundation is as difficult to 
make as an elegant. cigar. 
