78 BEEHIVES AND BEE KEEPERS' APPLIANCES. 



the interior of the lower part of the case. This is 

 closed in on both sides with frames M fitted with 

 panels of perforated zinc or wire cloth. This lower 

 chamber is intended as a means of giving ventila- 

 tion to the hive when the bees are confined by 

 closing the entrance L (Fig. 69), when no provision 

 for flight can be made. At other times the holes 

 in the piece E are closed by sliding a thin slip of 

 wood or vulcanite through the doorway L between 

 the bottom of the inner frame A and the top of the 

 piece E, thus cutting off the communication between 

 the hive and the ventilating chamber below. 



Above the top piece F, and screwed to it, is a 

 piece of board \ in. thick, with a rectangular slot 

 cut in its central part. This piece N (Figs. 69 and 

 70) is shown in half plan on the left of Fig. 72, and 

 it will be seen that its breadth is the same as that 

 of the pieces forming the case, and that it projects 

 about 1 in. at each side. Below these projecting 

 ends, and against the sides G (Fig. 69), blocks o, to 

 strengthen the corners of the case, are fastened by 

 screws or dowelled and glued. 



Surmounting the case is a cap, P, the upper edges 

 of which are bevelled ; it is secured to the case with 

 thumbscrews, so that it may be easily removed for 

 bottle-feeding the bees through a hole in r (see 

 Fig. 72). Within the slot in N a piece of perforated 

 zinc should be loosely fitted to keep the bees from 

 coming through the holes. If it is not intended to 

 use these holes as ventilators when the bees are 

 confined to the hive, any simple means may be used 

 to cover up the holes. 



If desired, a bow handle by which to lift the 

 hive can be fastened to the flat part of the cap, 

 in which case the small plates into which the 

 thumbscrews hold must be fixed to the underside 

 of the piece N and sunk, and not as shown in the 

 left-hand part of Fig. 72. 



The two windows are frames made up of four 

 pieces with a groove ploughed in one edge and 



