THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 213 



There is not nearly the danger to be apprehended from bar- 

 frame as from the skip or box-hive. 



46. It should enable a single bee-keeper to superintend the 

 colonies of different individuals. 



Bee-keeping has now become an industry. In the large bee- 

 farms of New South Wales it is the work of more than one man 

 to look after his own. One of the principal objects of Bee-keepers' 

 Associations was for the purpose of mutual aid, and these associa- 

 tions are now spread over the civilised world. It is represented in 

 this State by many societies, the central one being the National 

 Bee-keepers' Association, Sydney. 



47. All the joints of the hive should be water-tight, and 



there should be no doors or shutters liable to shrink, 

 swell, or get out of order. 



The Langstroth hive, as now constructed — that is to say, if 

 it be made of well-seasoned timber — never suffers from the trou- 

 bles here catalogued. The hive of to-day differs considerably from 

 those of earlier patterns in this respect. 



48. It should enable the bee-keeper to entirely dispense 

 with sheds or costly apiaries as the hive itself should 

 alike defy heat or cold, rain or snow. 



In the more temperate zones hives may go without sheds, and, 

 indeed, in the sub-tropics ; but the attendant requires some pro- 

 tection from the more direct rays of the sun. The best time to 

 work among bees is the hottest part of the day, when the manip- 

 ulator requires the protection — not the bees. See "Summer and 

 Winter Protection . " 



49. It ought not to be liable to be blown down in high 

 winds. 



Place the hive low, on bricks, about 3 inches from the ground, 

 so that a current of air can pass underneath the hive. 



50. A complete hive should have its alighting-board con- 



structed so as to shelter the bees against wind and wet, 

 thus facilitating to the utmost their entrance with 

 heavy burdens. 



The modern Langstroth hive is constructed with a movable 

 bottom-board, and the alighting-boards in most cases, are at- 

 tached thereto ; the entrance is cut into the solid wood, and is an 



