COMB FOUNDATION 
205 
cause, it was impossible to cut or engrave 
tl>e die faces on a soft metal having a 
curved surface that would be as symmetri¬ 
cal and accurate as the bees make them and 
troublesome in the old cut mill. The dis¬ 
tortion of the base on the old soft metal 
would very quickly become greater; and 
so after a very short time the foundation. 
A plaster cast, cross section view of the old comb foundation showing the flat angle 
of 140°. At the right the bees have built this same, foundation into comb, thinning the 
base and changing the cross section angle to 120° 
at the same time hold their shape. A 
metal that is soft enough to cut or stamp 
will wear rapidly, and at the same time 
flatten out so that the angles will become 
still more at variance with those of nat- 
never perfect at the start, becomes less and 
less suited to the requirements of the 
bees. 
Comparative tests in the hive show that 
the bees appreciate having foundation that 
Plaster casts of (1) natural comb, 
(2) Airco comb foundation, (3) Airco 
comb foundation with one end drawn 
out by the bees into comb. Notice that 
the pencil lines drawn thru the various 
bases are all parallel, showing, there¬ 
fore, that the angles are the same in , 
all three or the angle as the bees make 
it. 
two pieces of comb founda¬ 
tion imbedded in plaster of 
Paris. After it had hard¬ 
ened a cross section was 
made. 
ural comb. By using’ a cast-type face, 
made of a metal so hard that it could be 
neither cut nor stamped, it is possible to 
get away from the wear and crushing so 
AU this foundation was refined by the AIRCO 
process, but only two pieces, the two the bees ac¬ 
cepted first, were milled on AIRCO mills This 
shows the bees’ preference for the natural base. 
they do not have to modify. In making 
these tests, strips of foundation, old milling 
and new, were put'side by side in the same 
frame in the center of a strong colony. It 
was apparent that the bees in most cases 
' The AIRCO comb foundation (AIRCO milling. 
AIRCO refining) compared with foundation milled 
and refined by the old process. The bees’ prefer¬ 
ence, as might he expected, is unmistakable. 
