ARTIFICIAL AIDS TO COMB-BUILDING. 
195 
place. Mr. Lee’s idea is to use foundation so deep 
that its lower edge may hang loosely between the 
bottom rails, and thus be kept perfectly straight. 
Whether this be practicable will much depend on 
circumstances to be presently considered. He has 
not limited his dovetail joint to frames, but has 
applied it to hive bodies and sections, all of which may 
be sent out in the flat, and put together without nails, 
in a manner requiring no further explanation than that 
furnished by Fig. 55. 
Fig. 55 .— Corner of Hive Body, with Lee’s Continuous Dovetail Joint 
(Scale, D* 
tb, th, Top Bars ; hs, Hive Side. 
The poet but expresses a prosaic truth of this 
mundane state in sinking: — 
O O 
“ He that expects a perfect thing to see, 
Expects what ne’er was, nor is, nor e’er shall be ” ; 
and foundation, with its all beauty (for a sheet from 
the hands of an expert maker cannot but excite ad- 
miration), still has a fault — a liability to stretch when 
warmed by the heat, and pulled by the weight, of 
the bees. Purity of material, skilful manufacture, and 
careful management, are all essential if we would 
prevent this fault from making itself disagreeably 
O 2 
