262 AGRICULTURE 





have a hive of best workmanship and con- 

 structed to suit the requirements of the bee. 

 By going to the Apicultural Department 

 of any of our Agricultural Shows, specimens 

 of the different makes of hives may be seen 

 and examined. 



Until about twenty years ago, bees were 

 rarely kept in anything but the old-fashioned 

 straw skep, and it is only since the more 

 general use of the movable frame-hive that 

 bee-keeping has made such strides in this 

 country. 



With the skeps, the bees built the combs 

 just as they liked, fastening them to the in- 

 side, and so, of course, they could not be 

 removed. They remained sometimes for 

 years, after they had become diseased, dirty 

 and black ; moreover, owing to the cells 

 becoming thickened and small, the bees 

 hatching from them were undersized and 

 less vigorous than they should have been. 



In skep bee-keeping, practically everything 

 was controlled by the bee. With the movable 



