114 Bee-liCepuifi in Victoria. 



ill l)ot.ter kiioiuliiig of the slieets, and, consequently, a better quality of 

 foiindntion. 



Tlie g-rippcr ])iits an even strain on tlie sheet in pulling it off the 

 roller. If one has not been supplied with the machine, it can be made 

 by any one. It consists of two pieces of piuewood, 9 inches long, 

 IJ inches wide, connected at the ends by semi-circular pieces of clock 

 spring, which hold the two pieces of wood apart till closed on the end of 

 the sheet by pressure of the fingers. 



The sheets as they come off the rollers are laid evenly end for end 

 on top of one another, the curled end being smoothed down by hand 

 till eight or ten have accumulated, when they are ready for trimming. 



Trimming the Foundation. 



As the rolled sheets are 9 inches wide and 18 inches to 20 inches long, 

 trimming to the required size (163 inches x 8 inches for Longstroth 

 frames) is necessary. This is best done while the sheets are still slightly 

 warm, by placing a board of the proper dimensions on top of the sheets 

 and cutting the edges and ends off close to the board with a suitable 

 knife dipped in soap water or as shown in the illustration (Fig. 5), with 

 a disc cutter warmed over a small lamp. This cutter consists of a 

 circular piece of thin steel sharpened to a fine edge and fastened to an 

 axle 3 inches long revolving in a fork piece fixed in the handle. A 

 dummy cutter of the same size at the opposite end of the spindle insures 

 straight and even cutting, which will be found of great advantage when 

 the foundation is being fastened into the frames. 



When quantities of foundation are made something of the nature of 

 a turn-table will be found very useful. This is simply a board fastened 

 to the top of a table or stand by a screw in the centre, round which it 

 revolves. It should be large enough to leave room all round the sheet 

 for the guide wheel of the cutter ; and is moved a quarter of a turn after 

 each cut, thus doing away with the necessity of walking round the board 

 to cut the four sides or to shift the pack of sheets. 



The trimmed sheets are lifted in a body, and put into packs of not 

 more than 5 lbs., with a straight board between the packs, so that the 

 sheets may set perfectly straight and even. 



When comb foundation is kept over through the winter it will some- 

 times become somewhat brittle, and show a ^^hitish film on the surface. 

 By exposing it for a short period to the rays of the sun, or to mild heat 

 from a stove, this film will disappear, and the sheets become pliable 

 again. 



XXIII. — The Use of Comb=foundation. 



Comb- foundation, is the base or midrib of the combs in the frames of 

 the modern bee-hive. It consists of a thin sheet of beeswax impres.sed on 

 both sides with the shape of the basis of the cells of honey-comb, and is 

 supplied to the bees with the object of obtaining a larger yield of honey 

 than would be possible were they allowed to build their combs in their own 

 way. The better results obtained by the use of full sheets of comb-founda- 



