134 



THE FRAME HIVE. 



Frame. 



see, shoulders (these shoulders are made of various 

 patterns) which rest on ledges running along the sides 

 of the hive. They are made, also, 

 just a little smaller than the inside 

 of the hive, so that when they are 

 in their places they hang quite loQse 

 and free, as seen in the illustration 

 on the next page. You will thus 

 easily understand that if we can 

 only get the bees to make their 

 combs in th;ese -frames, and exactly 

 straight and true, we shall ■ have 

 obtained what we wanted, and be able to lift them 

 out, one by one, just as we require, and see every part 

 of the hive and every bee. 



If, however, the bees do not build their combs 

 straight and true in every frame, but crossways or 

 crooked, we are no better off than without them. So 

 that this is the first essential thing with a frame-hive 

 — to get the frames filled properly with comb. The 

 hive may be very beautifully made, but all is useless 

 unless the bees build their combs exactly straight 

 and true in all the frames. 



To get the bees to do this might seem very 

 difficult. Formerly it would have been thought out 

 of the question. It is, however, really the easiest 

 thing possible, by means of sheets of wax, called 

 Comb Foundation, ingeniously made of the required 

 size, and in a manner most helpful to the bees. 



This comb foundation is made by dipping a flat, 

 smooth piece of wood, which has first been wetted, 

 iiito melted wax one or more times (like a tallow 



