THE HONEY BEE. 171 



from working in the spaces between the bars, and 

 thus presenting an obstacle to their easy removal, he 

 spreads over them a piece of gauze or net- work, sa- 

 tisfied that the bees will not construct their edifices 

 on so flimsy a foundation. Over the net-work he 

 places a flat round board, divided into several sections, 

 each of which is moveable on hinges, and may be 

 opened in one or more divisions, as it may be desired 

 to remove one or more combs. In this circular cover 

 are several air-holes, closed with tin gratings, to al- 

 low the heated air ta escape. 



Lombard's Hive. The only other straw-hive 

 worthy of notice, known to us, is that of M. Lom- 

 bard of Paris, the friend and correspondent of Huber, 

 and author of a work on bees, which that distin- 

 guished naturalist highly commends. This hive is 

 in some degree a storied one, and differs from others 

 of that kind only in having its upper story less than 

 half the capacity of the lower or body of the hive ; 

 and that, at the honey-harvest, the contents only of 

 the former, which its inventor calls the Couvercle or 

 Cap, are appropriated by the cultivator, while those 

 of the latter continue from year to year the exclusive 

 property of the bees themselves. Plate X., tig. f* 

 copied and reduced from Lombard's Work, gives 

 a sketch of this hive, where a is the cap, surmount- 

 ed by a pointed piece of wood, designed for the 

 firmer fixing of the straw covering ; b is the body of 

 *he hive, having a thin square piece of deal fixed at 

 the top as the foundation of the combs, leaving open 

 spaces at each side for the passage of the beee ; t ^ 



