No. 12. 



The Subtended Bee-Hive. 



389 



The Subtended Bee-Hive. 



The above engraving is from Mr. T. Af- 

 fleck's very interesting little work entitled 

 " Bee-Breeding in the West." The plan ap- 

 pears well calculated to secure the end for 

 which it was designed — the protection of the 

 bees from the depredation of the moth : the 

 principle is simple, it being merely to compel 

 the moth to run the gauntlet while passing 

 up the tunnel, where it is sure to meet the 

 bees, face to face, while passing out ; and 

 should it make its footing good, it will find 

 itself emerging into the very heart of the 

 hive, in the midst of thousands of its enemies, 

 with scarcely a chance of escape. We would 

 inquire where the work is to be procured ? 



Ed. 



Mr. A. says: "In adopting a plan for the 

 keeping and management of bees, several 

 important points must be considered ; it must 

 combine simplicity with convenience, cheap- 

 ness with durability : it must allow the in- 

 mates to proceed in their own way ; the pro- 

 prietor to remove honey without disturbing 

 or injuring the bees : it must afford them, 

 during winter, a warm and dry habitation, 

 and in summer, a cool and airy one. Its en- 

 trance must be so arranged as to allow the 

 bees a free passage, and yet enable them to 

 guard it and defend themselves from ene- 

 mies; it must afford, with a reasonable de- 

 gree of care, complete protection against the 

 moth, and facilities for putting two or three 

 weak swarms together, when they come off 

 late in the season. All this, and more, can 

 be attained by the use of the subtended 

 HIVE. It is a simple and economical plan, of 

 easy management, and one within the reach 

 of any farmer who can handle a saw, a plane 

 and a hammer. The boxes of which it is 

 composed, must be formed of well-seasoned 

 pine boards, free from knots and wind-shakes, 

 one inch thick ; they may be ten, eleven, or 

 twelve inches square in the clear, well dress- 

 ed on each side, and jointed on the edges, so 

 as to fit close, without being tongued or 



grooved, and before nailing together at the 

 sides, lay a strip of thick white-lead paint on 

 the edge, which will render the joint imper- 

 vious to the ovipositor of the moth. In the 

 top of each box cut two semicircular holes, 

 at the front and back, one inch and a half in 

 diameter, the straight side being in a line 

 with the back and front of the box, so that 

 the bees may have a straight road in their 

 way from one story to the other ; the top of 

 the upper box must have an extra cover fixed 

 with screws, that it might be easily removed 

 in case of need, so as to form a second box 

 when required : pour a little melted bees-wax 

 over the inside of the top, which will enable 

 the bees to attach their comb more firmly. 

 We will suppose the boxes thus made, to be 

 a cube of twelve inches inside measure; in 

 that case, the tunnel-stand will be made 

 thus : — take a piece of two-inch pine plank, 

 free from knots and shakes, 26 inches long and 

 18 inches broad ; now, 10 inches from one end, 

 and 2 inches from the other and from each 

 side, mark off a square of 14 inches; from 

 the outside of this square, the board is dressed 

 off with an even slope until its thickness at 

 i\\e front edge is reduced to half an inch, and 

 at the other three edges, to about an inch. 

 The square is then to be reduced to 12 inches, 

 in the centre of which is bored an inch auger 

 hole, and to this hole the inner square is gra- 

 dually sloped to the depth of an inch — thus 

 securing the bees from any possibility of wet 

 lodging about their hive, and affording them 

 free ventilation. There will then be a level, 

 smooth strip, of one inch in width, surround- 

 ing the square of 12 inches, on which to set 

 the box or hive. Two inches from the front 

 edge of the stand, commence cutting a chan- 

 nel two inches in width, and of such a depth 

 as to carry it out on an even slope halfway 

 between the inner edge of the hive and the 

 ventilating hole in the centre; and over this, 

 fit in a strip of wood as neatly as possible, 

 : dressing it down even with the slope of the 

 stand, so as to leave a tunnel two inches in 

 width and a quarter of an inch deep. Under 



