THE FRAME HIVE. 133 



the objections to straw skeps, but also what are the 

 chief points to be observed in the construction of any 

 good hive. It must, we see, be so constructed that 

 we can easily and thoroughly examine it in every 

 part, and, if necessary, see every bee and all that is 

 going on within — what is right and what is wrong. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE FRAME-HIVE AND THE PRINCIPLES OF ITS 

 CONSTRUCTION. 



In the modern hive, all that I have spoken of in 

 the last chapter, as most necessary, can be done 

 perfectly and with ease. This is the Moveable 

 Comb or Frame-Hive. It is constructed in a 

 hundred different ways, but in all there is the great 

 principle of the moveable frame. In a general way 

 it may be said that the principal part of the interior 

 of the hive is simply a warm, dry box, of a certain 

 size, and made very exactly to that size. It may 

 or may not stand upon legs ; and, instead of an 

 ordinary flat top, it has a roof, like a house, so made 

 that it can be lifted off without difficulty. 



But we are now chiefly concerned with the frames, 

 which are shaped as shown in the illustration, and of 

 which there are a number — at least ten — with which 

 the body of the hive is filled. All these frames can 

 easily be taken out of the hive. They have, you 



