394 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



uiitil they are saturated with wax and while hot they are 

 pressed upon the surface of the sheet of foundation so that 

 they may be perj^endicular when the frame is hung in tlie 

 hive. These splints about 1-16 of an inch scjuare do not 



Fig. 151. 



V-4XDERV0RT IMBEDDING SPUE. 



seem to be at all in the way when the combs are built upon 

 them and they make an absolutely solid support for the foun- 

 dation. 



695. As comb-foundation is generally bought in long 

 strips, it may be well to give directions to cut it into pieces 

 of the right size for sections. This may be done with almost 

 any sharp knife. Have a i^attern of the size of the pieces 

 wanted, made of hard Avood. 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 alteiition to the 

 fact, that the bees always build their combs, with two sides 



