124 APi»ENDIX. 



prevails among our fatmers generaUy, and reply that I consider the 

 ordinary construction of the hive to be the greatest error and the 

 groundwork of all others. The stock from which they are made is 

 usually less than one inch, and generally not more than three fourths 

 of an inch in thickness ; and the hives are composed of four upright 

 pieces covered with a top, the whole unplaned and unpainted. Into 

 this box the bees are put ; and after a season of great and untiring 

 industry on their part, they are all smothered by fumes of sulphur, 

 and afterwards robbed of their treasures. Is not this murder and 

 robbery too ; and unnecessary, and therefore, doubly wicked murder 

 and robbery ? This evil can only be remedied by hives of a different 

 and more substantial construction, or by attaching collateral, or top 

 boxes to the ordinary hives, if any should be found worth it. There 

 are several very excellent and newly constructed hives, each of which 

 possesses some peculiar advantage, and any one of which is better 

 than the ordinary country boxes. Those of Dr. Thacher and Mrs. 

 Griffith, of our own country, and those of Mr. Nutt and Mr. Bagster 

 of England, are the best that I know of. They are all on the bee- 

 preserving principle ; are well and substantially made, and so con- 

 structed as to afford good opportunities for watching the operations of 

 the colony. Those of Dr. Thacher and Mrs. Griffith are fully de- 

 scribed in Dr. Thacher's and Dr. Smith's Works on Bee-management, 

 and need not be described here. Mr. Bagster's is complicated, (though 

 very good,) and probably would not be generally used. Mr. Nutt's is 

 more simple, can be easily made by any one who can use a plane and 

 chisel, and is calculated to prevent swarming, if the apiarian choose 

 so to do. I think too much cannot be said or done to prevent this 

 wanton and unnecessary sacrifice of insect life, to which I have above 

 referred ; and I am satisfied that if Mr. Nutt's hive could come into 

 general use, or a hive on similar principles, we should find in the 

 country more cultivators of bees, better stocks, better management 

 during all the year, and much better honey in the market. Should 

 you think it worth while, I will, at some future time, give you a draw- 

 ing and a description of this hive. 



" I have spoken of the stock from which hives are usually made, as 

 being too thin. No hive should be made from boards or rather plank, 

 less than one and a quarter inch, and I should prefer even one and a 

 half inch stock. The bees, by this thickness of wall to their homes, 

 are kept in more even temperature, and less affected by sudden changes 

 in the weather, both during winter and summer. This evenness of 



