376 COMB FOUNDATION. 
Fig. 120. 
VANDERVORT IMBEDDING SPUR 
any sharp knife. Have a pattern of the size of the pieces 
wanted, made of hard wood. Take six or eight sheets at 
one time, arranged in an even pile. Lay your pattern on 
them, holding it down firmly; dip your knife in strong 
soap-suds, and if the wax is at the proper temperature, you 
will cut the eight pieces at one stroke of the knife. If the 
sheets have a tendency to slip from under the pattern, you 
may nail cleats on three sides of it, to encase the pile as in 
a box. 
696. Are there a right and a wrong way, to suspend 
foundation in the frames? Or, in other words, should two 
of the six sides of the cell be perpendicular or horizontal? 
Huber, and Cheshire after him, call our attention to the 
fact, that the bees always build their combs, with two sides 
of the cells perpendicular. Mr. Cheshire explains, at length, 
the adaptation and advantages of this natural fact, and its 
bearing on the strength of the comb. From his explana- 
tions, it results that foundation suspended thus: 
a. e. with two perpendicular sides, would be properly O 
fastened, while if suspended thus: ze .with 
two horizontal sides, it would be © improperly fas- 
tened. 
Most of the machines that are made turn out foundation- 
sheets, which are to be hung horizontally, when the cells 
