N( . 0. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 345 



deal like a i^oannt. and is not far from Uie same size, liaviug indenta- 

 tions over its surface like a peanut. Instead of ojjening sidewise, 

 like a worker or drone-cell, it opens downward. When a young 

 queen emerges from a cell, nearly the whole of the cell will be torn 

 down within a few days, never again to be rebuilt. 



It is estimated that a pound of wax will make enough comb to 

 contain about twenty pounds of honey. 



HIVES. 



Uutii about half a century ago, the prevailing bee-hive was of 

 conical shape and made of straw. From the standpoint of the bees' 

 comfort, it is doubtful whether a better liive exists to-day. The 

 practice was to brimstone in the fall the heaviest and lightest col- 

 onies, saving those of medium strength for a start the next year. 

 It was a wasteful and barbarous practice, but even with all its 

 wastefulness, it was profitable. The straw hive, or skep, w^as suc- 

 ceeded by the box hive. Strictly speaking, box hives came into use 

 before straw hives went out. At flrsf, box hives were used the 

 same as stiaw hives, but later, surplus boxes or drawers were put 

 on top, and surplus honey was taken out without murdering the bees. 

 About the middle of the nineteenth century, Ker. L. L. Lanstroth 

 invented the movable-frame hive, and to-day most of the hives in 

 this country are of this kind. Each comb is built in a separate frame, 

 so that each can be taken out separately, making it possible for the 

 bee-keeper at any time to examine any part of the inside of the hive 

 —a thing utterly impossible before the invention of Mr. Langstroth. 



The kind of hive that is best to use depends a little on what the 

 bee-keeper intends to do. If movable frames are never to be moved, 

 there is not sufificieut excuse for their existence. Bees will store 

 as much honey in a box hive or even a nail keg as in a movable-ifame 

 hive, and will, perhaps, prosper better in the cheaper hive if having 

 no care, but a hive with movable combs is much more convenient for 

 the bee-keeper, and decidedly the better hive to have if he uses the 

 movable feature. 



Hives with movable frames are of various pattern.^, any of which 

 may be profitably used. It is the man and the managemen: that 

 make dilferences in results more than the hive. But it is very un- 

 desirable to have more than one kind of hives in the same apiary, 

 if you are to use movable frames. If you have a dozen box hives, 

 it may be as well to have a dozen kinds. But one kind of movable- 

 frame hive is enough, no matter what the number in the apiary. At 

 least there should be only one size of frame, so that any frame in 

 the apiary may be taken from its hive and put in any other hive. 



