The Production and Care of Beeswax 341 
the bases of cells of the comb. It is supposed that Mehring 
in 1857 made the first comb-foundation and during the next 
twenty years some progress was made, but not until Root 
(1876) made a machine by means of which foundation is 
made between rollers was much advance made. Repeated 
and continuous efforts to improve the product have led to 
great advance in the reliability of the manufactured founda¬ 
tion and comb-foundation is now used by all progressive 
beekeepers. Better results are obtained if the wax is sheeted 
and then put between the rollers under considerable pressure, 
and as a result the home-made article is less dependable 
than that made in well-equipped factories. Over 500,000 
pounds of beeswax is annually made into comb-foundation 
in the United States. The Rietsche press is used in Europe 
but rarely in America. Two concrete or plaster of Paris 
molds are made so that if hot wax is poured on one and the 
other applied the wax is molded to foundation. This 
foundation is soft, breaks easily and is more wasteful of wax 
than that made on rolls. 
As was stated earlier, comb-foundation is made of pure 
wax. It is reported that in Europe it is sometimes adul¬ 
terated by adding paraffin or cerasin, but it is claimed that 
when this is done the foundation is not easily accepted by 
the bees and sags badly after the comb is built. It may be 
stated that the manufacturers of comb-foundation in this 
country do not practice this deception and the author has 
personal knowledge of several cases in which these manu¬ 
facturers have rejected shipments of adulterated wax even 
when offered at a very low price. This should give the Ameri¬ 
can beekeeper confidence in the marketed product. 
In addition to the use of beeswax in beekeeping it has 
many uses in the arts, sciences and industries. It is ex¬ 
tensively used in making candles, which are not molded as 
are tallow candles but are made by pouring, drawing or 
dipping. Beeswax candles are used chiefly in church cere¬ 
monies. It is also used for making furniture and leather 
polishes, sealing and grafting waxes and in making certain 
