332 THE HIYE AND HONEY-BEE. 



A serious disadvantage attaching to all kinds of wooden 

 hives, is the ease with which they conduct heat, causing 

 them to become cold and damp in Winter, and, if exposed 

 to the sun, so hot in Summer as often to melt the combs. 

 The Winter inconveniences are greatly increased if the 

 hives are well painted, while, if this is neglected, they 

 cannot ordinarily be exposed to sun or weather without 

 serious injury.* 



To make the movable-comb hives to the best advan- 

 tage, the frames at least should be cut out by a circular 

 saw, driven by steam, water, or horse-power. In build- 

 ings where such saws are used, the frames may be made 

 from the small pieces of lumber, seldom of any use, except 

 for fuel, and may be packed almost solid in a box, or in a 

 hive which will afterwards serve for a pattern. One 

 frame in such a box, properly nailed together, will serve 

 as a guide for the rest. The other parts of the hive can 

 easily and cheaply be made by any one who can handle 

 tools, and can never be profitably manufactured to be sent 

 far, unless made where lumber is cheap, and the parts 

 closely packed, to be put together after reaching their 

 destination. 



_MOV ABLE-COMB OBSERVING HIVES. 



Each comb hi these hives is attached to a movable 

 frame, and, as both sides admit of inspection, all the won- 

 ders of the bee-hive may be exposed to the light of day, 

 as well as that of (pp. 23, 116) lamps and gas. 



In the common observing-hive, experiments are con- 

 ducted only by cutting away parts of the comb ; whereas, 

 in this, they can be performed by the simple removal of 

 a frame ; and if a colony becomes reduced in numbers, it 



* The abundant ventilation now given to my hives, will enable the Apiarian to 

 dispense with paint, except on the joints and roofs ; and if the latter are, in Summer, 

 covered with straw, battened to them so that the air can circulate under it, they 

 may be safely placed in the sun, if not exposed to a close, suffocating heat. 



