64 
DR. MILLER’S 
all the combs are very crooked, you may consider it as a box- 
hive. 
Q. How do you get straight combs built? Last year I used 
full sheets of foundation. The frames were wired with four hori- 
zontal wires. Almost every one “buckled” between the wires, and 
they are a bad lot of combs. 
A. I wonder if you didn't depend entirely on the wires. The 
foundation should be fastened securely to the top-bar, either by 
means of the kerf and wedge, or, what some think better in a very 
dry climate, waxing the foundation to the top-bar; that is, run- 
ning melted wax along the edge of the foundation on the top-bar. 
But you will probably have less sagging of foundation if you use 
foundation splints that are described fully in this book, as well as 
in the book, “Fifty Years Among the Bees.” 
Combs, Weight of. — Q. How much will ten frames of empty 
combs weigh, new and old, size top-bar one inch? How 
much wax will ten combs produce, if rendered? 
A. They vary very much with age. A weighing just made 
shows ten old ones weighing 13 pounds. I have no new ones to 
weigh, but they would be much lighter. Ten average combs will 
yield from \ l /i to 2 x /i pounds of wax. 
Concrete (See Cement.) 
Corn Flower. — Q. Do bees gather nectar from corn flowers? 
A. Yes, if by corn-flower you mean the flower Centaurea Cy- 
anus. If you mean the tassels of Indian corn, I think they get only 
pollen. 
Cotton.— Q. There is a large amount of cotton near Phoenix. 
Does cotton in Arizona yield much honey? 
A. Cotton is a good honey plant in the southern states, and 
likely, also, with you. 
Cottonwood. — Q. Is cottonwood lumber good for beehives? 
Is basswood? 
A. Both are bad for lumber for hives. 
Q. Do bees gather much honey from the blossom of the cot- 
tonwood tree? 
A. I think not; if your cottonwood is like the cottonwood of 
Illinois. 
Covers. — Q. What kind of a cover do you use? 
A. A flat cover with a dead air-space covered with zinc or tin. 
The upper and the lower parts are each of three-eighths inch stuff, 
with the grain running in opposite directions, separated by strips 
or cleats three-eighths inch thick, 
