54 PLEASUBABLE BEE-KEEPING 



hive, particularly on the bottom ring of straw, will 

 considerably lengthen the period of usefulness. 



Mmmge-ment. The floor-board, placed upon .four 

 bricks, should first be set perfectly level both ways, 

 and then, to secure the combs being built from front 

 to back, the floor-board must be raised slightly behind, 

 as the direction of the combs depends upon the pitch 

 of the floor-board, and not according to the preference 

 of the bees. 



Some bee-keepers who have found numerous cases 

 of combs in skeps, running from side to side, state 

 that the system of hanging frames in bar-frame hives 

 parallel with the front is to be preferred, because bees 

 choose that method of building their combs, and there- 

 fore the preference of the bees should guide the bee- 

 keeper in fixing the direction in which the frames 

 should hang in a movable-comb hive. 



If wooden tops are provided for the skeps, four holes 

 I inch wide, 8 inches long, and IJ inches apart, should 

 be made in the middle. By placing the brood-chamber 

 so that the openings in the crown- board run from side 

 to side, the bees will be compelled to build their combs 

 across the openings and from front to back, thus in- 

 creasing the ease of access from the brood-chamber to 

 the super, while to some extent doing away with the 

 inducement for the queen ta enter the super, which a 

 large central hole affords. 



Hiving the swarm. When the floor-board has been 

 set as directed, the skep may be removed and the 

 swarm hived into it. As soon as the bees have settled 

 the skep must be moved on to the floor-board with great 

 care so as not to disturb the cluster. As the bees carry 



