Foundations in Beekeeping - Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - page 37

til you've done it a few times. Fortunately, if you bend or crack the wax foundation by
accident, the bees will repair it once it is inside the hive. They will fill in a beekeep-
er's clumsy holes with their own beeswax to create a perfect honeycomb pattern. Bless
these creatures!
Thefoundationsheetswereembossedwithahoneycombpattern, andmyhoneybees
would eventually add beeswax to the foundation to make their cells or comb. It was
there that my queen would lay her eggs and the brood would be raised. A thin metal
wire runningthroughthe foundation wouldsupport the weight ofthe honeycomb as the
bees built it up.
My completed hive body had ten frames in each deep, for a total of twenty frames.
Along the top of the deeps were edges called rabbets , from which the frames hung in a
neat line. I nailed thin, L-shaped pieces of metal along both sides for protection. With
the frames sitting on two of these metal guards, it would be easy for me to slide the
framesinandoutofthehivesduringharvestingorinspectionwithoutcrushingthebees.
Mybeehivehadan outer cover toprotectthetopofthehiveandshieldthebeesfrom
nasty weather. Sometimes referred to as a telescoping cover , this wooden board was
covered by a thin sheet of galvanized metal that hung over the sides of the hive body.
Underneath this outer cover was a flat piece of wood with a framed edge, called, clev-
erly, the inner cover. It would serve as extra insulation for the bees and prevent them
from building honeycomb on the outer cover. On the front side of the inner cover was a
small open notch and, on the top, an oval hole. Both openings acted as vents, so mois-
ture could escape the hive.