HOW TO BEGIN BEE-KEEPING 15 



pie who make bee-keeping their principal business 

 prefer chaff hives, for they not only keep out the 

 cold in winter, but also protect the bees from the 

 heat in summer. The objections to them are that 

 they are heavy to handle and are expensive, though 

 the expense can be reduced considerably if one has 

 the ability to make them. Another thing we like 

 about the chaff hives is that they are fine and dig- 

 nified in appearance, and we find that their majestic 

 proportions, white and beautiful, set against the 

 background of our larches, add much to our con- 

 scious pleasure every time we look upon our apiary. 

 We ordered a deep telescope cover, as we wished 

 room for two supers on the hive at once. 



The hive-stand we ourselves made from lumber 

 taken from dry-goods boxes. It is simply a smooth 

 platform, six inches wider than the hive on three 

 sides and extending about a foot out in front of the 

 hive, thus serving as an alighting-board. 



TWO COMPLETE SUPERS 



We knew that we would need these very soon, 

 for the basswood harvest was imminent ; we 

 ordered them ready for use, as we wished to see 

 all the ''new wrinkles'' in supers, and exactly how 

 the parts are arranged. We used the supers as 

 models later in putting together and fitting other 

 supers. This proved a wise precaution, as it saved 

 us much time in reading directions and studying 

 out independently the arrangement of parts. We 



