could be seen. Another winter has 

 passed in safety, and the plaster hive is 

 still the best. Mr. Patterson has since 

 been led to employ " Keene's cement " 

 instead of the plaster. This is made by 

 soaking plaster of Paris in alum water, 

 then returning and grinding it. 



But for general use it is quite obvious 

 that there are serious objections to the 

 above arrangements. The shell of the 

 hive is brittle, and no liberty can be 

 taken in removing it from place to place. 

 Besides, as an article of sale it is for 

 the same reason inadmissible. This 

 difficulty has, however, been quite got 

 over by the practical suggestion of the 

 clergyman at Struan, who is nearly as 

 enthusiastic an apiarist as Mr. Patter- 

 son himself, to the effect that the sides 

 of the hive be formed by a combination 

 of wood and plaster. After careful ex- 

 periment it was found that this could 

 be best accomplished by outer frames 

 of wood, such as painters have their 

 canvas stretched on. Permission was 

 obtained from a Glasgow patentee to 

 take advantage of his invention, and a 

 kind of sackcloth called scrim was 

 stretched on the frames. Each side of 

 the hive thus formed was laid on a flat 

 stone, and the plaster, reduced by water 

 to the consistency of a very rich cream, 

 was poured on, and when dry, which 

 speedily happens, the frame is formed. 

 These, when carefully packed, can be 

 sent anywhere. 



The mode of uniting the four sides 

 may be varied. The first plan tried was 

 very effective. Eight sheet-iron corners, 

 such as are used for strengthening the 

 biscuit boxes, issued by the manu- 

 facturers, or may be seen clasping the 

 two sides of the cheaper class of trunks, 

 were attached by screws, and the box 

 was complete, ready for the reception 

 of the frames. Another change in the 

 form of the hive, however, has been 

 made, so as to suit the new-shaped 

 frames which are referred to at the out- 

 set under head No. 2, of which I shall 

 now speak. 



2. It is well-known that from an early 

 period it has been the aim of skilled 

 apiarists to adapt the shape of the hive 

 as nearly as possible to the form of the 

 comb, especially at the stage of its for- 

 mation when the clustering bees spread 

 over the greater part of its surface for 

 breeding purposes. Hence we have 

 square, hexagonal, octagonal, and cir- 

 cular-shaped hives put forth by their 

 several advocates as being each the best 

 in the circumstances. The square, 

 though perhaps the handiest where 

 frames are used, is furthest in shape 

 from the requisite referred to. All who 

 have used it must have been very 



frequently annoyed at the results flow- 

 ing from the "cold corners," as "a 

 Renfrewshire bee-keeper " aptly calls 

 them, and the absence of which in his 

 favorite Stewarton, is an occasional 

 source of a very natural congratulation, 

 to which the hexagonal and the circular 

 are equally entitled. But there are 

 "cold corners" in every comb of far 

 more serious consequence in every hive 

 with a flat top, and two in every dome- 

 shaped one. The two lower ones are 

 worse than useless, and the upper two 

 are only a shade better. In the former 

 honey is seldom placed, and brood never. 

 The bees, like Nature, abhor a vacuum. 

 Hence the space is tilled with useless 

 comb, which, to the apiarist looking for 

 profit, means waste. In the upper two, 

 honey is generally found ; but if so, it is 

 as often superfluous, Mr. Patterson 

 has endeavored to remedy this, and the 

 practical result, is as follows : 



The first experiment was in the direc- 

 tion of the oval, but the wood persis- 

 tently refused to be so bent under ordi- 

 nary management. Steamed, twisted, 

 or tied till dry, it invariably returned to 

 the circle or an approach to it. A 

 mould was tried with a larger measure 

 of success, and a very fair approxima- 

 tion to his idea was obtained. The 

 completed frame resembled very much 

 the section of an egg with the end cut 

 off, as we see it daily at the breakfast 

 table. But then fresh difficulties arose 

 — the frames would not all come with 

 exactly the same outline ; this in a hive 

 would be simply intolerable. Again, 

 the fltting-up of the box internally was, 

 though rendered perfectly practicable 

 by the introduction of the plaster, yet 

 difficult except to an adept, and some- 

 what expensive. It was at once 

 abandoned, and a new form, which all 

 the time had been suggesting itself as 

 it were, was attempted, Why not adopt 

 the octagonal? The Stewarton hive has 

 rendered it familiar, in so far as the 

 shape of the hive itself was concerned. 

 He set to work, and out came the very 

 thing he wanted. It looked exactly as 

 if he had laid down one of his Stewar- 

 ton boxes on the bench, as the cook 

 would do a ham, and then taken a slice 

 an inch thick off it. He was so pleased 

 with its appearance and the possible 

 advantages which faith and imagina- 

 tion clustered around it, that he at once 

 by means of a block of wood formed a 

 mould which held it fast while the nails 

 were applied, and insured that every 

 frame was firm and all as exactly alike 

 as possible. To carry out his idea a 

 square wooden box was formed; a slight 

 narrow ridge run along the inside or 

 opposite sides to each other, and a tin 



