Page:How to Keep Bees.djvu/115

Rh Before the frame is placed in the brood-chamber it is to be supplied with a sheet of comb-foundation; this insures the building of the comb in the desired position, so the frames can be removed from the hive. Bees do not naturally make their combs straight, but curve them so that they are less likely to be broken. It is necessary, therefore, in order to get straight combs to confine the operations of the bees within set bounds; this is done by putting a sheet of foundation in each frame.

One of the attractions of bee-keeping is that much of the material we work with is pleasing, and some artistically beautiful. A sheet of foundation-comb made of the most delicate wax, frescoed on either side with rhomb insets in hexagonal pattern, is a joy to the artistic eye. It is absolutely necessary that the foundation should be put into the frame in such a manner that it will not sag or bulge when it is built out into the comb and filled with the heavy honey or brood. To keep these large sheets from bulging and breaking they are held in place by fine wire which is strung back and forth across the frame, passing through holes made with a small awl in the end-bars. These holes should be about two inches apart, the upper one one inch from the top bar, and the lower one something less than an inch from the bottom bar, making four wires in the Langstroth frame. After these holes are made, put a small tack at one end near the lower hole, twist the wire around it, then thread the wire back and forth, making four wires parallel with the top and bottom bars, and fasten