AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 63 



wide and three-eighths of an inch thick, while the end 

 bars are ifin. wide, and 4|in. long; so that the inside 

 of frame is the same as the section box — 4iin. deep. 



SECTION HOLDERS. 



In America, where very large quantities of section 

 honey are raised, all sorts of devices are used for 

 holding sections while on the hives. Frames without 

 top bars, except the projecting ends, which allow the 

 sections to be inserted and removed easier and quicker, 

 and section racks without frames are the two popular 

 methods. 



NUMBER OF FRAMES TO A HIVE. 



The original Langstroth Hive, as constructed by the 

 Rev. Langstroth himself, contained ten frames, and this 

 is the number generally used throughout Australasia. 

 There was an agitation some time back in favour of an 

 eight-frame hive, but it is now seen that the ten-frame 

 hive is the best size for all purposes. The half-stories 

 when used with the shallow extracting frames take the 

 same number — ten — but only seven of the section 

 frames. 



MATS FOR COVERING FRAMES. 



Mats answer two purposes — for keeping the bees 

 below the tops of the frames, and conserving the 

 warmth of the hive. They may be made of any thick, 

 coarse material, like light sacking stuff, and should fit 

 accuratelv over the frames. 



