CHAPTER XIV.COMB FOUNDATION.

Fig. 65.

Every apiarist of experience knows that empty combs in frames, comb-guides in the sections, to tempt the bees and to insure the proper position of the full combs, in fact, combs of almost any kind or shape, are of great importance. So every skillful apiarist is very careful to save all drone-comb that is cut out of the brood-chamber—where it is worse than useless, as it brings with it myriads of those useless gormands, the drones—to kill the eggs, remove the brood, or extract the honey, and to transfer it to the sections. He is equally careful to keep all his worker-comb, so long as the cells are of proper size to domicile full-sized larvæ, and never to sell any comb, or even comb-honey, unless a much greater price makes it desirable.

No wonder, then, if comb is so desirable, that German thought and Yankee ingenuity have devised means of giving the bees at least a start in this important, yet expensive work of comb-building, and hence the origin of another great aid to the apiarist—comb foundation (Fig, 65).

For more than twenty years the Germans have used impressed sheets of wax as a foundation for comb, as it was first made by Herr Mehring, in 1857. These sheets are four or five times as thick as the partition at the centre of natural comb,which is very thin, only 1-180 of an inch thick. This is pressed between metal plates so accurately formed that the wax receives rhomboidal impressions which are afac simileof the basal wall or partition between the opposite cells of natural comb. The thickness of this sheet is no objection, as it is found that the bees almost always thin it down to the natural thickness, and probably use the shavings to form the walls.

Mr. Wagner secured a patent on foundation in 1861, but as the article was already in use in Germany, the patent was, as we understand, of no legal value, and certainly, as it did nothing to bring this desirable article into use, it had no virtual value. Mr. Wagner was also the first to suggest the idea of rollers. In Langstroth's work, edition of 1859, p. 373, occurs the following, in reference to printing or stamping combs: "Mr. Wagner suggests forming these outlines with a simple instrument somewhat like a wheel cake cutter. When a large number are to be made, a machine might easily be constructed which would stamp them with great rapidity." In 1866, the King Brothers, of New York, in accordance with the above suggestion, invented the first machine with rollers, theproductof which they tried but failed to get patented. These stamped rollers were less than two inches long. This machine was useless, and failed to bring foundation into general use.

In 1874, Mr. Frederick Weiss, a poor German, invented the machine which brought the foundation into general use. His machine had lengthened rollers—they being six inches long—and shallow grooves between the pyramidal projections, so that there was a very shallow cell raised from the basal impression as left by the German plates. This was the machine on which was made the beautiful and practical foundation sent out by "John Long," in 1874 and 1875, and which proved to the American apiarists that foundation machines, and foundation, too, were to be a success. I used some of this early foundation, and have been no more successful with that made by the machines of to-day. To Frederick Weiss, then, are Americans and the world indebted for this invaluable aid to the apiarist. Yet, the poor old man has, I fear, received very meager profits from this great invention, while somewriters ignore his services entirely, not granting him the poor meed of the honor. Since that time many machines have been made, without even a thank you, as I believe, to this old man, Weiss. Does not this show that patents, or something—a higher morality, if you please—is necessary, that men may secure justice? True, faulty foundation, and faulty machines were already in use, but it was the inventive skill of Mr. Weiss that made foundation cheap and excellent, and thus popularized it with the American apiarists.

Fig. 66.

These Weiss machines turn out the comb-foundation not only of exquisite mold, but with such rapidity that it can be made cheap and practicable. Heretofore these machines have been sold at an enormous profit. Last November, 1877, I expostulated with one of the manufacturers of American machines, because of the high price, saying, as I looked at one of the machines: These ought to be sold for thirty or forty dollars, instead of one hundred dollars. He replied that such machines—with rollers, not plates—that gave the foundation the exact figure of natural comb, were only made, he thought, by the person who made his machines, and thus convinced me that said person should be rewarded,amply rewarded, for his invention. But as I have since learned that this is only the Weiss machine, and does no more perfect work, I now think Mr. Weiss should receive the super-extra profits. Even with machines at one hundred dollars, foundationwas profitable, as I with many others have found. But with the present price—forty dollars, which I think, judging from the simplicity of the machine, advertised at that price (Fig, 66), must be reduced still lower—we can hardly conceive what an immense business this is soon to become.

The process of making the foundation is very simple. Thin sheets of wax, as thin as is consistent with strength, are simply passed between the rollers, which are so made as to stamp worker or drone foundation, as may be desired. The rollers are well covered with starch-water to secure against adhesion. Two men can roll out about four hundred pounds per day.

Fig. 67.

To make the thin sheets of wax, Mr. A. I. Root takes sheets or plates of galvanized iron with a wooden handle. These are cooled by dipping in ice-water, and then are dipped two, or three times if the wax is very hot, in the melted wax, which is maintained at the proper temperature by keeping it in a double-walled vessel, with hot water in the outer chamber. Such a boiler, too, prevents burning of the wax, which would ruin it, while it is being melted. After dipping the plates in the wax, they are again dipped, when dripping has ceased, into the cold water, after which the sheets of wax are cleaved off, the plates brushed, wiped, cooled, and dipped again. Theboiler used in melting the wax has the gate with a fine wire sieve attached near the top, so that the wax as it is drawn off into the second boiler, will be thoroughly cleansed. Mr. Root states that two men and a boy will thus make four hundred pounds of wax sheets in a day.

Others use wooden plates on which to mold the sheets, while the Hetherington brothers prefer, and are very successful with a wooden cylinder, which is made to revolve in the melted wax, and is so hinged, that it can be speedily raised above or lowered into the liquid.

For cutting foundation, nothing is so admirable as the Carlin cutter (Fig, 67,a), which is like the wheel glass-cutters sold in the shops, except that a larger wheel of tin takes the place of the one of hardened steel. Mr. A. I. Root has suggested a grooved board (Fig. 67,b) to go with the above, the distance between the grooves being equal to the desired width of the strips of comb foundation to be cut.

I have used foundation, as have many other more extensive apiarists, with perfect success in the section-boxes. The bees have so thinned it that even epicures could not tell comb-honey with such foundation, from that wholly made by the bees. Yet, I forbear recommending it for such use. When such men as Hetherington, Moore, Ellwood, and L. C. Root, protest against a course, it is well to pause before we adopt it; so, while I have used foundation, I think with some small advantage in sections and boxes for three years, I shall still pronounce against it.

It will not be well to have the word artificial hitched on to our comb-honey. I think it exceedingly wise to maintain inviolate in the public mind the idea that comb-honey ispar excellence, a natural product. And as Captain Hetherington aptly suggests, this argument is all the more weighty, in view of the filthy condition of much of our commercial beeswax.

Again, our bees may not always thin the foundation, and we risk our reputation in selling it in comb-honey, and an unquestioned reputation is too valuable to be endangered in this way, especially as in these days of adulteration, we may notknow how much paraffine, etc., there is in our foundation, unless we make it ourselves.

Lastly, there is no great advantage in its use in the sections, as drone-comb is better, and with caution and care this can be secured in ample quantities to furnish very generous starters for all our sections. This will readily adhere, if the edge be dipped into melted beeswax, and applied to the sections.

If any one should still be disposed to make such use of foundation, they should only purchase of very reliable parties, that they may be sure to use only such wax as is genuine,yellow, clean, andcertainly unmixed with paraffine, or any of the commercial products which were first used to adulterate the wax.Only pure, clean, unbleached wax should be used in making foundation.We should bevery carefulnot to put on the market any comb-honey where the foundation had not been properly thinned by the bees. Perhaps a very fine needle would enable one to determine this point without injury to the honey.

But the most promising use of foundation, to which there can be no objection, is in the brood-chamber. It is astonishing to see how rapidly the bees will extend the cells, and how readily the queen will stock them with eggs if of the right size, five cells to the inch.The foundation should always be the right size either for worker or drone-comb.Of course the latter size would never be used in the brood-chamber. The advantage of foundation is, first, to insure worker-comb, and thus worker-brood, and second, to furnish wax, so that the bees may be free to gather honey. We proved in our apiary the past two seasons, that by use of foundation, and a little care in pruning out the drone-comb, we could limit or even exclude drones from our hives, and we have but to examine the capacious and constantly crowded stomachs of these idlers, to appreciate the advantage of such a course. Bees may occasionally tear down worker-cells and build drone-cells in their place; but such action, I believe, is not sufficiently extensive to ever cause anxiety. I am also certain that bees that have to secrete wax to form comb, do much less gathering. Wax secretion seems voluntary, and when rapid seems to require quiet and great consumption of food. If we make two artificial colonies equally strong, supply the one with combs, and withhold them from the other,we will find that this last sends much fewer bees to the fields, while all the bees are more or less engaged in wax secretion. Thus the other colony gains much more rapidly in honey, first, because more bees are storing; second, because less food is consumed. This is undoubtedly the reason why extracted-honey can be secured in far greater abundance than can comb-honey.

The foundation if used the full depth of the frame, stretches so that many cells are so enlarged as to be used for drone-brood. This demands, if we use the sheets unstrengthened, that they only be used as guides, not reaching more than one-third of the depth of the frame. Strips not less than four inches wide will not sag to do any harm. The foundation, too, should not quite reach the sides of the frame, as by expansion it is liable to warp and bend. Captain J. E. Hetherington has invented a cure for this stretching and warping, by strengthening the foundation. To do this, he runs several fine copper wires into the foundation as it passes through the machine.

I understand, too, that Mr. M. Metcalf, of this State, has a similar device now being patented.

This is a valuable suggestion, as it permits full-sized sheets of foundation to be inserted in the frames. I presume that very soon all worker-foundation will contain such wires.

In the thin sections, the foundation can best be fastened by use of the melted wax. To accomplish this, I have used a block made thus: Saw a fifteen-sixteenths inch board so that it will just exactly fill a section. Screw this to a second board, which is one-half inch broader each way, so that the larger under board will project one-quarter of an inch each side the top board. Now set the section over the top board, place the foundation, cut a trifle shorter than the inside of the section, within, close to the top and one side of the section, and cause it to adhere by running on a little of the melted wax, which, by use of a kerosene lamp or stove, may be kept melted. If the basin is double-walled, with water in the outer chamber and wax in the inner, it is much safer, as then the wax will never burn.

If the tops of the sections are thick, they may be grooved, and by crowding the foundation into the groove, and, if necessary, pressing it with a thin wedge, it will be securely held.

Fig. 68.

This last method will work nicely in case of fastening into the brood-frames. But I have found that I could fasten them rapidly and very securely by simply pressing them against the rectangular projection from the top-bar already described (page 134). In this case a block (Fig, 68,a) should reach up into the frame from the side which is nearest to the rectangular projection—it will be remembered that the projection (Fig, 36) is a little to one side of the centre of the top-bar, so that the foundation shall hang exactly in the centre—so far that its upper surface would be exactly level with the upper surface of the rectangular projection. This block, like the one described above, has shoulders (Fig, 68,f), so that it will always reach just the proper distance into the frame. It is also rabbeted at the edge where the projection of the top-bar of the frame will rest, (Fig, 68,b), so that the projection has a solid support, and will not split off with pressure. We now set our frame on this block, lay on our foundation, cut the size we desire, which, unless strengthened, will be as long as the frame, and about four inches wide. The foundation will rest firmly on the projection and block, and touch the top-bar, at every point. We now take a board as thick as the projection is deep, and as wide (Fig, 69,d) as the frame is long, which may be trimmed off, so as to have a convenient handle (Fig. 69,e), and by wetting the edge of this (Fig. 69,d)either in water, or, better, starch-water, and pressing with it on the foundation above the projection, the foundation will be made to adhere firmly to the latter, when the frame may be raised with the block, taken off, and another fastened as before. I have practiced this plan for two years, and have had admirable success. I have very rarely known the foundation to drop, though it must be remembered that our hives are shaded, and our frames small.

Fig. 69.

The above methods are successful, but probably will receive valuable modifications at the hands of the ingenius apiarists of our land. Study in this direction will unquestionably pay, as the use of this material is going to be very extensive, and any improvements will be hailed with joy by the bee-keeping fraternity.

As foundation is becoming so popular, and is destined to come into general use, it behooves us all to be very careful that no old comb goes to waste. Soiled drone-comb, old, worthless worker-comb, and all fragments that cannot be used in the hives, together with cappings, after the honey is drained out through a coarse bag or colander—which process may be hastened by a moderate heat, not sufficient to melt the wax, and frequent stirring—should be melted, cleansed, and molded into cakes of wax, soon to be again stamped, not by the bees, but by wondrous art.

A slow and wasteful method is to melt in a vessel of heated water, and to purify by turning off the top, or allowing to cool, when the impurities at the bottom are scraped off, and the process repeated till all impurities are eliminated.

A better method to separate the wax is to put it into a strong, rather coarse bag, then sink this in water and boil.At intervals the comb in the bag should be pressed and stirred. The wax will collect on top of the water.

To prevent the bag from burning, it should be kept from touching the bottom of the vessel by inverting a basin in the bottom of the latter, or else by using a double-walled vessel. The process should be repeated till the wax is perfectly cleansed.

But, as wax is to become so important, and as the above methods are slow, wasteful, and apt to give a poor quality of wax, specialists, and even amateurs who keep as many as ten or twenty colonies of bees, may well procure a wax extractor (Fig, 70). This is also a foreign invention, the first being made by Prof. Gerster, of Berne, Switzerland. These cost from five to seven dollars, are made of tin, are very convenient and admirable, and can be procured of any dealer in apiarian supplies.

Fig. 70.

By this invention, all the wax, even of the oldest combs, can be secured, in beautiful condition, and as it is perfectly neat, there is no danger of provoking the "best woman in the world," as we are in danger of doing by use of either of the above methods—for what is more untidy and perplexing than to have wax boil over on the stove, and perhaps get on to the floor, and be generally scattered about.

All pieces of comb should be put into a close box, and if any larvæ are in it, the comb should be melted so frequently that it would not smell badly. By taking pains, both in collecting and melting, the apiarist will be surprised at the close of the season, as he views his numerous and beautiful cakes of comb, and rejoice as bethinks how little trouble it has all cost.

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