JANUARY 1, 1916 



27 



position ; or, to un- 

 derstand it more 



clearly, imagine a 



Langstroth hive with 



firmly fixed cover, 



front entrance also 



closed, instead of 



which a new entrance 



is opened at the right 



side (being now the 



front), and the left 



side made removable 



(door, now the back 



end of the hive). 



That is, in short, the 



principle. 



To operate the 



hive, one frame after 



another has to be 



taken out at the back, 



for which purpose 



special tongs are in 



general use. To put 



the frames in place 



again, • they are simply pushed fonvard ; 



and it is, therefore, indispensable that 



every frame be provided with a spacing- 

 nail or a metal spacer, of which there are 



many kinds. 



To American readers this system might 



seem impractical ; but most beekeei^ers who 



are familiar with it are satisfied with the 



an'angement. On the other hand, one of 



those beekeep- 

 ers once ex- 

 pressed to me 

 his disgust for 

 hives to be 

 treated from 

 the top. "The 

 whole colony 

 is aroused 

 when the cov- 

 er is lifted," he 

 said. Indeed, 

 in a few points 

 the system 

 shows some 

 conveniences — 

 in the first 

 place, its fit- 

 ness for the 

 bee-house. 



A 1 1 h the 

 hive was de- 

 clared stand- 

 ard, the length 

 was not pre- 

 scribed. Usual- 

 ly it is made 

 for 12 frames 

 in every story. 



A kiosk for a small number 

 of colonies. 



A bee-house of primitive design. The fronts of the hives themselves 

 form the side of the house. 



In some regions the li/2-story hive is 

 considered too small, and a hole is ijrovided 

 in the top, to be opened during a good flow 

 when a special super is placed above. When 

 accommodated in a modern bee-house this, 

 however, is not possible, and then three- 

 stoi'y or even four-story hives are preferred. 

 In the latter case the upper rooms are also 

 provided with an entrance ; and after being 

 separated from the lower story by a divi- 

 sion-board one can lodge a second colony, 

 for instance, in a poor season or during 

 winter. 



The door in the rear is either removable 

 or moves on hinges. Then follows next in 

 the newer hives a window (not seen in the 

 figure), the frame of which exactly fits the 

 interior of the hive, and that can be pushed 

 forward when contracting the room. Some- 

 times the glass is replaced by wire cloth, 

 which has the advantage of ventilation 

 when, in summer, the back door is left 

 open. Lately a space of an inch is observ- 

 ed between the hive-bottom and the bottom- 

 bars; and in lieu of a division-board above 

 the lower story only a beespace of Vi inch 

 is left. 



The entrance is often guarded by a tin 

 slide. One of the many different styles 

 is shown in Fig. 5. For small entrances, 

 a correspondingly small alighting-board is 

 in favor (Fig. 6), one part of which can be 

 put up to protect the entrance from wind 

 or sun in winter. 



In spite of the existence of a standard 

 hive its adoption is not general, and never 

 will be. After the same principle and dis- 

 position is made the hive of Baden (but 



