suspender of the simpliest form attached 

 to each side of the frame, and the origi- 

 nal idea had fairly taken shape. Some 

 things still remained to be done. From 

 the floor to the side of the box. thin 

 partitions of wood were run along from 

 end to end, placed so as to come up to 

 within a quarter of an inch of the one 

 side of the octagon, on either side. 

 This may seem to include the idea of 

 lost space, but the value of this arrange- 

 ment in another point of view has un- 

 expectedly appeared, and will by-and- 

 by be also explained. 



The hive was thus so far completed 

 that the introduction of a colony to test 

 it was all that was required. Struan, I 

 may mention here, is nearly 600 feet 

 above the level of the sea, and but for 

 the magnificent supply of heath on its 

 hillsides would be the most unlikely and 

 unsuitable place for an apiary in Britain. 

 The winter had been protracted beyond 

 all previous experience. The snow was 

 lying all around, and in the deep comes 

 showed that it would require a July sun 

 to dismiss it. In the end of April, on 

 the occurrence of a day of sunshine, with 

 the temperature tolerably favorable and 

 the atmosphere perfectly dry, he broke 

 up one of his hives, and transferred the 

 combs and all the bees (hybrid Ligu- 

 rians) to the new hive. The frames 

 were placed parallel to the entrance and 

 close to it. He backed them up with 

 one of his newly invented bar-frame 

 feeders, which served at the same time 

 as a dummy. The frames he covered 

 over with flannel and strips of carpet- 

 ing to an extent necessary to keep up 

 the proper temperature inside, flung a 

 waterproof tarpaulin over all, and felt 

 thankful that the work was thus far 

 accomplished, and hopeful for the 

 future. 



Next day the hive was examined. 

 The bees, as they always do when pro- 

 perly handled, had taken their somewhat 

 untimely and unceremonious removal 

 in good part. They were busy, some in 

 fixing the combs to' the upper portion of 

 the frames, others in removing the debris 

 necessarily caused by the transferrence, 

 while others were busily engaged in re- 

 moving syrup from the long narrow 

 ridge of the bee-feeder. 



Day by day the hive has been ex- 

 amined and the progress has been re- 

 markable. When it started on its new 

 existence the colony might in every 

 sense be regarded as the weakest in the 

 apiary— the one that, all things con- 

 sidered, had the worst chance. It is 

 now on a par with the strongest, and it 

 fully and fairly promised -by the end of 

 June to be far ahead of the whole. The 

 frames, which were being gradually 



added one by one, in no case extended 

 quite to the bottom, but I never saw 

 such a mass of brood, the bees having 

 reserved only from 1 or 2 inches all 

 round for honey, all the rest being ap- 

 propriated to breeding purposes. On 

 the face of one of the combs I was 

 greatly struck to see that not even a 

 single cell was reserved for honey or 

 pollen, inside of the inch space just 

 referred to. 



Mr. Patterson is so satisfied with his 

 success, and so confident as to results, 

 that he has begun to adapt his whole 

 apiary to the new system, if we may be 

 allowed so to call it. He has introduced 

 many improvements which were sug- 

 gested as he went on with his work — 

 adapting his plaster hive to the change 

 of form, working out the idea of a com- 

 bination hive, overcoming minor diffi- 

 culties as they emerged. To enumerate 

 or explain these w T ould only lead to con- 

 fusion if attempted now. 

 •if As before mentioned the bees at once 

 took to their new abode, and commenced 

 work with a will. As the month wore 

 on, the appearance of brood was most 

 encouraging. The shape of the frames 

 and that of the clustering bees coincid- 

 ing so exactly greatly favored the hatch- 

 ing process, and before July had well 

 begun, several frames had to be added. 

 By the end of July the hive was quite a 

 sight, and the merry hum of the bees as 

 they went out to their work in crowds, 

 gave full proof of the health and pros- 

 perity that reigned within. It was 

 soon necessary to form an artificial 

 swarm, which in this wretched season 

 and at an altitude of 600 feet above the 

 level of the sea, was a thing to be spoken 

 of. In the course of a month, the swarm 

 became fully equal to the parent colony, 

 and, if there had been a longer season, 

 I am not sure but that it would have 

 outstripped it. For this, too, there was 

 a reason. The original size of the 

 octagon was 13 inches inside measure- 

 ment ; but Mr. Patterson thought that, 

 safely and with advantage, it might be 

 extended to 14 inches. This gave an 

 immense breeding and storing surface, 

 every frame containing upwards of 6,- 

 000 cells, a larger surface than that con- 

 tained in any frame which we have ever 

 seen. The result has so far justified 

 this extension as indicated above, for 

 breeding on a large scale has unques- 

 tionably gone on, the bees with their 

 queen evidently chiming in with the 

 idea. 



An experienced bee-keeper at the 

 Perth Show urged that with such a 

 mass of comb, brood, and honey in each 

 frame, removal to the heather would be 

 impossible owing to the risk of a break- 



