CHAPTER VIII 

 THE HIVE, AND HOW TO HANDLE IT 



THE BROOD-CHAMBER 



The essential parts of a hive are the following: 

 A bottom-board, the first story, or brood-chamber, 

 containing frames for the support of the combs, and 

 a cover. When extracted honey is to be produced, 

 a second story like the first may be placed between it 

 and the cover; when it is desired to have the surplus 

 honey stored in section-boxes, one or more shallow 

 stories containing the section-boxes are placed above 

 the brood-chamber; these shallow stories are known 

 as the supers. 



Formerly the brood-chamber was a mere cubiform 

 box with two horizontal cross-pieces passing through 

 the centre at right angles to each other for the sup- 

 port of the combs. Sometimes the bee-keeper 

 furnished the bees with a hive made from a section of 

 a hollow log, with a board nailed over one end for 

 a cover, or the hollow log was placed in a horizontal 

 position. Such a hive was known as a "bee-gum," 

 probably because it was often made from the trunk 

 of a gum tree; but the bee-gums with which we were 

 familiar in our childhood were made from hollow 

 basswood logs. 



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