2 26 



J onriial of Agriailture , Victoria. 



[lo April, 1911. 



of fruit trees. One colonv of bees should, however, be sufficient 'for' 

 several hundred full-grown fruit trees in blossom at the same time. in-., 

 any case, the number of hives a fruit-grower can keep is limited by the 

 amount of bee food within range of the bees. The supply must be suffi- 

 cient to maintain them during the remainder of the season and also pro- 

 vide winter stores. 



Fruit-growers' Bees and the Bee Diseases Act 1910. 



The bees kept by fruit-growers are in many instances in box hives. 

 Where bees are kept only for the benefit of the fruit crop and where the- 

 yield of honey is small, owners do not care to incur the exjiense of modern- 

 hives, fittings and appliances. 



Under the Bee Diseases Act the keeping of hees in proclaimed areas 

 in other than prescribed hives will be prohibited from ist January, 191 3. 

 A prescribed hive will mp;in any hive the combs of which are in frame.?- 



I. SHALLOW ten-frame HIVES AND SECTION SUPER. 



easily removable for inspection and having a loose fitting cover. To- 

 comply with the Act a frame hive of some kind will therefore have to be 

 adopted by all owners of bees by the end of 191 2. as infected areas may 

 he proclaimed by the Governor in Council wherever disease in bees is. 

 found to exist. This does not, however, necessitate the purchase of the 

 hives and appliances which the honey producer finds necessary to the 

 succes.s;ful carrying on of his occupation. 



All that is needed is the hive, the frames and, for convenience of 

 handling the bees, a smoker. The wiring of frames, which is necessary 

 when full sheets of comb-foundation are used, can be dispensed with if, in 

 place of the standard, Langstroth hive, a .shallow frame hive with two- 

 sets of shallow frames, instead of one set of full depth, is adopted. Two 

 such hives are shown in the first illustration. Each hive consists of two- 

 shallow bodies lyf in. long, 14 in. wide, and 4? in- deep, .inside mea- 

 surements. The end pieces are rebated \ in. by f in. to receive the pro- 



