BEE MANUAL. 167 
being then raised, the front of the lever presses upon the edge 
of the foundation, the rest of which is at the same time to be 
bent upwards to its proper position in the box; the end of 
the lever is then drawn backwards, with pressure, and the 
foundation: remains fastened in its place. The machine should 
Fig, 81_-PARKER’S COMB-LEVER. 
be screwed to a table or bench, and the under edge of the lever 
moistened with a little honey, to keep it from sticking to the 
wax. 
WIRED FOUNDATION. 
In order to prevent sagging or bulging of the foundation, 
owing to undue heat and the weight to which it is sometimes 
exposed during the operation of comb building, and especially 
to prevent breakage of the comb when thick honey is being 
extracted, it has been found desirable to strengthen the septum 
in some manner. Different substances, such as wood, vegetable 
parchment, strong paper, linen, vulcanite, and wire, have been 
tried as a base for foundation, but none of these, except the 
last, have been found to answer the purpose. Capt. Hether- 
ington, of Cherry Valley, New York, was, I believe, the first to 
use wired foundation some few years ago, and already it is 
coming into .very general use. Very thin wire is first secured 
in the frames, and afterwards imbedded in the foundation, 
either by hand or by the Given press. The. following answer 
to a correspondent, in the New Zealand and Australian Bee 
Journal, expresses nearly all I have to say as to a choice between 
hand and machine wiring :—‘“ As soon as a demand sprang up 
for wired foundation in America a Mr. Given invented a 
