150 THE HONEY-BEE. 



detail the various kinds of abodes which have been, 

 or still are, in use for the purpose in different 

 countries. It will be more interesting to our readers 

 to know what are the principal forms of hives 

 at present in use among us. Of these the most 

 antiquated, and, we fear we must say, still the com- 

 monest, is the old-fashioned dome-shaped straw skep. 

 We shall not enlarge upon its merits, though we are 

 prepared to admit some; but, as it is almost uni- 

 versally condemned in its primitive form by skilled 



FIG. 43. STRAW SKEP. 



apiarians, we prefer to speak of some easy modifica- 

 tions of it which render it less objectionable. 



In the first place, it must be borne in mind that 

 every system which requires the slaughter of the 

 bees for securing honey from them, is radically bad, 

 and therefore wholly to be discountenanced. At the 

 same time, every bee-keeper expects, and rightly, that 

 he should get honey ; and this can be managed even 

 with straw hives, if they have a flat top and a per- 

 foration in it sufficient to allow the population to 

 go up into supers, wherein to store their produce. 

 Fig. 44 shows such an adaptation. The lower and 

 larger receptacle is for brood and the maintenance of 



