194 AUSTBALIAN BEE LOKE AND BEE CULTURE- 



tapers off at the edges, wedge sh^ipe. The size of the comb depends 

 on the size of the cavity chosen. The brood comb is generally in 

 the centre of the nest, and if the comb is large, it is generally 

 found in the centre of it. If it be the spout of a tree, where it 

 is liable to oscillate, brace combs are built in the bee space be- 

 tween each comb, and the centre of the comb is always better 

 braced than are the sides. Where the combs are long and pendu- 

 lous they are, of course, more liable to vibrate with the oscillation. 

 Owing to their fragile nature, virgin combs, under such circum- 

 stances, would be liable to fracture ; and where they cannot be 

 properly and firmly fixed at the sides, and where the superficial 

 area of the combs is great, these brace combs are used in greater 

 numbers. When combs are built where they are not likely to be 

 shaken, few, if any, brace combs are used. From this it will be 

 noted that the shape of combs requires some bee-thought to pro- 

 tect them from injury under different circumstances. In the 

 construction of the hive, and with it the frame, these points must 

 be considered. If the frames are too large every way, the bees 

 will attach the comb only to the top bar ; where narrow and deep, 

 they will seldom build down to the bottom bar. 



Now, the more insecurely the comb is fastened to the sides 

 of the frame the more liable it is to accident. No matter how 

 great an adept the manipulator may be in technically handling 

 them, the shape of the frame and its attachment have a good deal 

 to do with success. 



These matters — i.e., the suitability of the design of the frame 

 for manipulative purposes — have given rise to the many designs 

 or forms of hives brought before the public, each one claiming to 

 have some special advantage to aid in the work of beekeeping. 

 From the very beginning difficulties presented themselves. The 

 cause of these had to be discovered and remedies devised. It is 

 evident the problem as to the proper depth of the frame is still 

 unsettled. The Heddon frame is one of the latest introduced. It 

 has a depth of only 4 J inches and in width is 17| inches — an area 

 of nearly 74 square inches internal measurements. Of course, in 

 the construction of a frame the outside measurements are the ones 

 that must be adhered to, so that any variations in the thickness of 

 the timber used shall not interfere with the internal measurements 

 of the hives. In the dimensions of a hive they are calculated from 

 internal measurements — the opposite to that of the frame. The 

 shallow frames, now so frequently found in use in the supers of 

 the Langstroth hive are internally about 4^ inches x 16| inches, 



