COMB FOUNDATION MILL
1895 - 1915Iron or steel mill with two honeycomb patterned rollers attached to a series of cogs and wheels within a black metal frame.
A curved metal handle is attached to the LHS and this has a timber handle.
A metal tray is attached under the rollers and there is another handle/roller out the front with a timber roller.
Associated with the Cook family, who had established an apiary at Coondle in the Toodyay district by 1902.
Based on the manufacturer's markings and the structural design, this comb foundation mill is estimated to have been manufactured between 1895 and 1915. Amos Ives Root initially operated under his individual name or "A.I. Root." The company officially incorporated as The A.I. Root Company in 1894. This compact, low-slung cast-iron frame structure featuring heavy side-gears and a lower wooden stabilizing bar matches the exact 6-inch and 10-inch hand-crank foundation mills advertised in their catalogues spanning from the late 1890s through the early 1910s. By the 1920s, the design transitioned to taller, heavier frame styles with alternative gear casings.
Details
Details
THE A.I.R.?. O. T 00. MEDINA O.U.S.A.
(The full inscription on the central cross-member is believed to have originally read: MANUFACTURED BY THE A.I. ROOT CO. MEDINA O. U.S.A.)
The comb foundation mill is used for embossing plain and pure beeswax sheets with the exact cell outline of the honeycomb for fixing into the frames of a beehive.
Such embossed comb foundation sheets form a base for the bees to build up new combs, without them having to use their own resources to produce them from scratch.
