ARTIFICIAL AIDS TO COMB-BUILDING. I97 
no harm result, if the side walls be fully raised. A 
glance along the surface of the sheet, between the eye 
and the light, will reveal any such deficiency. We 
find we can make perfect sheets on the original Root 
machine that weigh seven to the pound, Standard size, 
though on the later machine only five or six can be got.” 
Having secured the best that a conscientious and 
able maker can supply, caution is still needed. In 
hot weather, without some device to prevent sagging, 
foundation cannot safely be given to stocks, even 
in single sheets, without great risk of undue 
stretching; but the careful bee-keeper will either 
adopt such a device, giving him ability to get 
foundation converted into comb under any likely 
conditions, or he will contrive to have his foun- 
dation built (drawn out) in the spring. Under this 
plan, combs removed from the stocks in preparation 
for wintering, instead of being returned in the opening 
months of the season, as the colonies increase in 
numbers, are held in reserve for swarms, extraction, or 
condemned bees. The foundation may, in this case, 
extend to within ^in. or a little more from the 
bottom rail, and, it we please, reach to the sides 
of the frame at top, and clear them by jin. at 
the bottom ; then worker-cells will be secured, filling 
the frame, yet giving the bees the chance of piecing 
on just a very few of the larger size in the corners. 
Foundation 3in. or 4in. in depth loses its mam value^ 
as the bees, especially if prosperous, persist in filling 
the unoccupied part of the frame with drone-cells. 
My own experience in hiving swarms upon unaided 
full sheets is such that my advice would be, Don’t. 
