18 



nit off, and having the two sides of the bar left to left 

 by the improvement made by tlic Eev. Scott, but I need 

 hardly point {out the folly of such a make, when the combs 

 come tunibling;out, with this short bar, and breaking away 

 the comb from the sides. The original long bar and frame 

 ■which I used had a bevelled slip let in if required for re- 

 moval from any experimental hive ; but I have never seen 

 the utility of this shifting top bar, and gave it up and re- 

 turned to the solid frame, which you now see, made with, 

 zinc hooping for economy and lightness, but which, 

 whilst it enables me to fix in the combs for experiments 

 with greater ease, I fear loses the advantages of the 

 double wood frame for warmth for the bees, in the 

 winter, &c. For a description of many of these hives 

 I can only advise you to expend a shilling upon one of Mr. 

 Pettitt's small books, which, with the wood cuts, will give 

 you a better idea of the hives than any description. Sup- 

 pose you had two hexagonal boxes made, the one to fit 

 within the other, and a space left between of half-an-iuch 

 all round, and that the width between the sides of the 

 hexagon was about a foot inside measure of the inner box, 

 neither box to have a top or bottom, and the larger box 

 18 inches deep, whilst the smaller and inner one was 

 only 6 inches deep, and also, you took the outer or larger 

 hexagonal box, and cut it asunder, and fixed on four legs 

 like cross bars at the two open ends, which should, how- 

 ever, now have semi-hexagonal pieces nailed on to close 

 them, and at the bottom angle a passage was made to ad- 

 mit the bees : this opening should extend the whole length 

 of the box, 18 inches, as thus the bottom board forms an 

 ano-le for the dead bees to fall off; the upper half has 

 hinges and forms the lid of the bar-frame hive : this of 

 course made and an-anged to work the observatory frame on, 

 &c. ; the smaller hexagonal box, 6 in. deep, must be cut 

 in six pieces, this again cut in halves you have 12 semi- 

 hexagonal frames, these 12 are placed on 12 bars, which 

 bars are fourteen inches long, so that they can be rested 



