THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 193 



of plastic wax attaches it to the roof, or something corresponding 

 thereto. No studied direction is chosen. It is fixed haphazard; 

 and whatever direction is taken by the bee for the first comb is the 

 line on which all the other brood combs are constructed parallel 

 with it. Frequently when a swarm takes possession of a new 

 home, natural or artificial, where no bar frames are provided, 

 two or even more wax-workers will start at different points, and 

 all other combs started on either side of these will follow the 

 direction of the one they are nearest to, although at a different 

 angle to others that have been already started, until they gradually 

 approach. Then they are curved and ultimately connected, still 

 maintaining the parallel. This accounts for the bent combs fre- 

 quently met with when transferring from the gin-case hivei to a 

 bar-frame one. 



BAR-FRAMES. 



The rise and progress of the be«-hive as we now see it having 

 already been dealt with, it is here proposed to treat with the 

 various styles of frames and hives that have been the outgrowth 

 of the keen obesrvation of thinking men. After the first successful 

 steps were taken, difficulties presented themselves and had to be 

 overcome. The form the frames should take, the size most con- 

 venient to manipulate, and the number of frames the hives should 

 contain, were some of the problems to be solved. Not only was 

 the convenience of the beekeeper to be considered — he could vary 

 his wants according to circumstances ; but would all shapes and 

 sizes be acceptable to the little workers themselves? These were 

 things to be taken into serious consideration when beekeeping was 

 first entered upon, with the idea of obtaining the greatest profit 

 with the least labour, and the smallest amount of suffering from 

 the defensive weapon of the bees themselves. The shape and size 

 of the hives is of paramount importance Notwithstanding that 

 bees in a state of nature adapt themselves to circumstances, and 

 vary their work according to the home chosen, in an artificial 

 state the requirements are different. In choosing a natural home, 

 bees do jiot always appear to act with marked judgment, as the 

 queer places selected by them and already referred to proves; 

 but wherever they work, the fixing of the comb securely is always 

 one of the chief considerations of the bees. If the home only 

 admits of securing the comb by the upper edge, then, as a rule, 

 it is built longer than it is deep, and the heaviest part of it (that 

 containing the honey) is close to the attachment. Each comb 



