BOX AND CHAMBER HIVES. 137 



either, and surplus honey boxes placed over them ; a 

 cap or cover may be placed over these, making it, 

 practically, a chamber hive.* 



The Chamber Hive differs from the box in having 

 a chamber floor placed usually about two-thirds of 

 the distance from the bottom to the top, making a> 

 chamber above in which to place surplus honey 

 boxes. Access is had to the chamber (for the pur- 

 pose of supplying or removing boxes) by means of 

 a shutter or door made to cover one side of it ; holes 

 are made through the chamber floor for the bees to 

 pass into the honey boxes. 



The principal advantage which the above class of 

 hives possesses is cheapness. There are disadvan- 

 tages, among which are the following : First, the 

 comb is not convenient of access, and is beyond con- 

 trol. Second, the comb is almost always built very 

 irregularly. 



This irregularity is occasioned by the broad, even 

 surface to which they are compelled to attach their 

 combs. While a majority of swarms build their 

 combs sufficiently regular to insure a reasonable de- 

 gree of thrift, there are others that build them so 

 irregularly as to be totally worthless as stock hives. 



To illustrate this matter more clearly, the reader 

 is referred to plate vni, fig. 21, which represents 

 a case of this kind. The hive was a common box 



* This is the plan recommended by Mr. Quinby, in " Mysteries 

 of Bee-keeping Explained." 



