173 HIVES. 



mon bee-box, as to capacity, cleanliness, and security 

 against vermin, while, at the same time, it enables me 

 cultivator to ascertain at all times the state of Ins 

 colony, nay, of every individual comb, the progress of 

 the brood, the quantity of provision, the existence and 

 number of royal cells, and the probable period of 

 swarming. It affords every facility, too, for making 

 artificial swarms, and for discovering the exact period 

 when that operation may be attempted with a reason- 

 able prospect of success. The greatest drawback is 

 its expense,* which is such as as to preclude any but 

 amateurs from having recourse to it. A figure of this 

 hive, as used by Huber himself, is to be found in his 

 " Observations on Bees ;" another of the same hive, 

 as afterwards modified by him, has been given by 

 M. Lombard, (Plate XL, fig. 3.) 



The leaf-hive consists of eight frames, each 18 

 inches high,t English measure, and ten inches wide, 

 inside, having the uprights and top cross pieces 1 J 

 inch broad and one inch thick, so that the eight frames, 

 when placed close together, constitute a hive, eigh- 

 teen inches high, twelve inches between end and end. 

 and ten inches between back and front, all inside 

 measure. The frames are held together by a flat 

 sliding bar on each side, secured by wedges and pins. 

 To the first and eighth of these frames is attached a 

 frame with glass, and covered with a shutter. The 

 body of the hive is protected by a sloping roof, and 



* One Guinea is the usual price. 



f Fourteen or fifteen inches at most would be a better size 

 for the uprights. 



