20 
Bulletin 54 . 
supers. Without them the comb is sure to be uneven in a large 
proportion of the sections, and in many cases it will be bulged so as 
to make it very difficult to pack the sections in a crate lor ship¬ 
ment. Illustrations of such sections are shown at h of Plate 5. 
These sections also vary much in weight, some weighing consider¬ 
ably more than a pound, while others weigh as much less. They 
are not as attractive nor as easily handled upon the market as those 
that are built with flat faces that do not project beyond the edges of 
the section, and that are all uniform in weight and appearance, as 
shown at s of Plate 6. I have used the tin and board separators 
in about equal numbers and have been unable to see that one has 
any special advantage over the other. 
I have also used separators upon one side and upon both sides 
of the sections. While very good sections of honey are obtained by 
the use of separators upon one side only, the results have been 
enough better when used upon both sides to make the latter plan 
advisable. In my experiments the sections that had no separators 
averaged one-half ounce more in weight than those with separators 
on one side only, and the latter weighed one-half ounce more than 
the sections that had separators on both sides. As these lighter, 
better appearing sections sell better than the heavier, ill appearing 
ones, there is a double advantage in their production. 
PROPORTION OF WAX IN COMB HONEY. 
Beeswax does not melt at the temperature of the body and is 
indigestible in the human stomach. Although this does not neces¬ 
sarily imply that beeswax is harmful in food, it becomes a matter 
of some interest to know how much wax is taken with ordinary 
comb honey when the latter is eaten. It is also a matter of interest 
to know how much wax the bees are compelled to secrete for every 
pound of honey that they store in the natural way. 
As a thick comb has but one midrib, and as the walls of the 
cells are heavier near the midrib than they are towards their outer 
portions, it is evident that comb one and one-half inches thick 
would not be half heavier than comb one inch thick. The increased 
weight of the thicker comb would be due entirely to the additional 
wax required to extend the walls of the cells one-half inch, and to 
that only. On the other hand, it is equally evident that the honey 
filling a comb one and one-half inches thick would weigh half more 
than honey filling a comb one inch thick. Consequently the 
weight of wax in thick combs is less in proportion than in thin 
combs. The weights given in the following table shows this to be 
true: 
