BAB, FRAME HIVES. 



21 



they ever strive to close np gaps, hence the advisabiHty of having two, 



upon which more must be said when we come to the art of supering. 

 There are not a few bee keepers, although their number is very signia- 



oantly decreasing, who believe that bees cannot thrive in wooden hives. 



Wild bees they forget got on weU for ages in hollow trees. With them 



there is nothing like straw, and this principally because some observed 



facts have been misunder- 

 stood and misinterpreted. 



Hive makers have, to meet 



these, striven to produce 



frame hives, the outside of 



which should be as nearly 



as possible oatstalks alone. 



As a' result of this effort, 



we havg the Sherrington 

 (Fig. 20), which, no doubt, 

 in its improved form, is 

 good, although unneces- 

 sarily cumbrous and heavy, 

 especially about the roof, 

 which could hardly be re- 

 moved by one pair of hands. 

 The Woodbury, the Cheshire, 

 and most other frame hives 

 can be had in straw. The 



plan adopted is somewhat different to that in the Sherrington, as the 

 angles of the hives are made in wood into which plates of compressed 

 and sewn straw are fixed. We have 

 again and again tried these hives by 

 the side of those in all respects similar, 

 save that the material has been ex- 

 clusively wood, and have found np 

 appreciable difference. In the Sher- 

 rington a form has been given to the 

 top bars which will be best understood 

 by reference to Fig. 21. Each of these 

 has projections near the ends which 

 keep the frames at correct distances 

 from each other while they rest on the 

 side of the hive. These frames were 

 introduced by Mr. Abbott in the hive seen at Fig. 22, and were designed 

 in order to admit of the use of a, qmlt,* as it is termed instead of a 



* The quilt may consist of any hard textile fabric, and Brussels carpet, wrong 

 side downwards, haa been largely recommended, but for winter use phraU is im- 

 mensely its superior. See a subsequent chapter. 



Tia. 



The SHBKEni(iT0S Hive, 



Pio. 21. 



FBAUES of the SHEEBINGTOir HiVE. 



