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tically based upon it. As experience in the field has demonstrated that 

 very few apiarists in the Province have realised its real importance, it may 

 be worth while to dwell upon it a little longer. 



The brood-chamber of a hive contains little more than a cubic foot of 

 space into which are crowded in the month of May often as many as 50,000 

 bees and nearly as many young in various stages of development, hence 

 every nook and cranny must be utilised to the utmost advantage, but on 

 the other hand every part must be accessible to the inmates. There must 

 be structures of wax called combs, and there must be passage-ways be- 

 tween them. Both are of equal importance, for the one is valueless with- 

 out the other, but any unnecessary space devoted to passages is by that 

 much a loss in cell accommodation. The bees must have at least a quarter 

 of an inch width in their streets and alleys, and will tolerate as much as 

 three-eigths of an inch, but beyond that they will endeavor to utilise the 

 space by building comb. Knowing this habit of the bees first-class hive- 

 makers so make their wares that the bees will have no option but build 

 their combs so that man's convenience will be well suited while that of 

 the insects is in no way interfered with. For instance the modern frame 

 has projections on the end bars that automatically regulate the distance 

 between the combs to just three-eighths of an inch. 



In planning a hive the maker has to consider that one chamber has to 

 be placed above another, and that the bee-space of three-eighths of an 

 inch must be between the upper and lower sets of frames. The important 

 question at once arises, in which box shall it be given and where. The 

 style of the bottom-board would appear to determine its position, because 

 where the body rests on cleats projecting above the board, a space is 

 naturally formed below the frames, therefore these may be flush with the 

 lower edge of the hive. The hive above being built in like fashion it fol- 

 lows that the bee-space must be provided between the top-bars of the 

 frames and the upper edge of the hive. 



In the case of the bottom-board with the V-shaped entrance that has 

 been already referred to at some length, since the hive body is in contact 

 with the board the bee-space must be given underneath the frames, hence 

 the top-bars are flush with the upper edge of the hive. Let us see what 

 happens with a beekeeper who has a hive of this type. He buys a super 

 from another dealer, probably gets one where the bee-space is at the top, 

 so when he places it on the brood-chamber the bottom of the sections rest 

 on the top-bars of the frames, and all communication between the two is 

 prevented. 



There is another phase of the matter, and here the beekeeper is fre- 

 quently to blame. The bees have a great fondness for daubing propolis in 

 every cranny, so that when the ends of the frames rest on wood they are 

 apt to be fastened rather tightly. To reduce this effect to a minimum the 

 hive maker cuts the rabbet a little deeper and provides a strip of tin to be 

 nailed at the proper height so that the frames will rest on a thin edge of 

 metal. Not realising the importance of these many beekeepers omit to put 

 them in, hence the frames hang too low and prevent communication below. 



