HIVES AND APPLIANCES 29 



ends, and on these two sides there is a dead air 

 space. The supers for extracting purposes are 

 precisely similar to the body-box in construc- 

 tion, but shallower, and there is a lift for the 

 quilts, the roof being either sloping or span. The 

 floor-board has a sunk entrance at times, while 

 at others the entrance is taken out of the bottom 

 edge of the body^box. When sections are worked 

 on this type of hive extra lifts are needed to 

 'accommodate the section racks. These are gener- 

 ally of the form known as the "T " super, and 

 contain twenty-one sections each. 



Both single- and double-walled hives as now 

 made are variable as regards outside measure- 

 ments and in minor details, but in one respect 

 they are standardized, and that is in respect to 

 the size of the frames. The number of frames in 

 a hive is ten usually, and it may be nine or 

 eleven, but they will be of the outside measure- 

 ments of the British standard frame. This frame 

 is 14 inches by 8^ inches outside measurement, 

 with a 17-inch top bar. This bar should be $ 

 thick by \ wide, the side bars J inch thick, and 

 the bottom bar £. These thicknesses are deviated 

 from by various makers, but the outer, measure- 

 ments are inviolable. For supering purposes what 

 is known as a shallow frame is used. This is 

 identically the same as the standard frame except 

 as regards depth; it is 5^ inches deep only. 



With regard to working qualities both these 

 types of hives are admirable, and there is practi- 



