156 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [riil). Doc. 



Materials for Maintenance. 



Manufacturers present a large variety of hives and other equiji- 

 ment fi'om which the beekeeper may choose his type of hive and the 

 accessories. Not everything advei'tiscd is necessary for a small 

 apiary. It is advised that hives and fixtures be purchased, rather 

 than made at home, at least for a start and a ])attern, in order to 

 secure accuracy of measurements and interchan<>eableness of parts. 

 Nothing is more annoying than to have misfits. For a similar reason 

 the advisability of selecting and continuing one type of hive, say the 

 ten-frame Langstroth, cannot be too strongly emphasized. The pro- 

 spective keeper of bees should secure a collection of supply catalogues, 

 study them, gain acquaintance with their technicalities, and then, 

 selecting the type of hive most to his liking, purchase an equipment. 

 Few parts and simple construction are features to be sought. The 

 disadvantage of the old-fashioned box hive being so apparent to any 

 one contemplating beekeoiiing to-day, it is scarcely necessaiy to 

 say that only equij^ment with removable frames and combs should 

 be considered. 



Aside from the body of the hive, in which the frames are hung 

 and the brood raised, hence called the brood chamber, there is a 

 bottom board, with entrance for the bees, super or upper body in 

 which surjilus honey is stored and removed, and a cover. The bottom 

 board is recommeiuled to be of % inch stock, in order to secure 

 rigidity, reversible, and should have a full width entrance. Those 

 which are reversible, giving both a shallow and a deep entrance, 

 are convenient. Most of the super types on the market to-day will 

 serve. The purchaser must determine, however, what the nature of 

 his honey product is to be, then select his super, remembering to 

 look for simplicity of construction. For a cover, the writer has 

 been particidarly ])]cased with metal roofed covers, consisting of a 

 thin, inner board and a telescoping, metal-roofed outer cover. This 

 is ventilated, water proof, ridged and durable. There is no danger 

 of overheating the bees when it is used. Tliei-e is also little danger 

 of this cover blowing ofif. 



In order to prevent the queen from going above to lay in the 

 supers, or compartments where the surplus honey is stored, a thin 

 board, with perforations which permit the passage of worker bees 

 but prevent that of the queen, is desirable. This is termed a queen- 

 excluding board. The modern wire construction is admirable. A 

 similar board in which is fitted a metal device, the Porter bee escape, 

 when placed beneath the super, will allow the bees to pass from this 

 surplus comi>artnieiit but not to return. Thus the honey can be re- 

 moved with little labor. It is spoken of as a bee-eseape board. 



