ii66 Ooita KuuKbATiuii. 



CHAPTER XV. 



Comb Foundation. 



674. The invention and introduction of comb founda- 

 tion, with the use of movable frames (286), marked an 

 important step in the progress of practical bee-culture. 

 The main drawback to the perfect success of movable- 

 frame hives was the difficulty of always obtaining straight 

 combs in the frames (318). Although the bevelled top 

 bar (319) often secured this object, yet, in many instances, 

 tlie bees deviated from this guide and fastened their combs 

 from one frame to another ; and if the matter was not 

 promptly attended to, the combs of the hive became as 

 immovable as those of box hives. One frame slightly out 

 of place was a sufficient incentive for the bees to fasten 

 two frames together. In the management of four large 

 Apiaries, previous to the introduction of comb foundation, 

 we found that, in spite of our efforts, a certain number of 

 colonies would so build their combs, that only a part of the 

 frames were movable without the use of a knife. Even the 

 combs that were built in the right place were made some- 

 what waving, or bulged in spots, and were thus rendered 

 unfit for such interchanges as are daily required in ordinary 

 manipulations. 



676. Another drawback to success was the building of 

 drone comb (226). We have had colonies in which nearly 

 one-fourth of the combs were drone-comb. In such hives the 

 number of drones that might be raised would be sufficient 

 to consume the surplus honey. To be sure, with movable- 

 frame hives, such combs can be removed, but the difficulty 



