HIVES. 68 



paint of good quality will be equally effective for the 

 purpose of protecting the wood from the effect of 

 weather, but whether the paint shall be coloured 

 or white is a very important matter to the bee-keeper. 

 Black is the worst of all, because that colour is known 

 to absorb the heat rays of the sun. Hence the lighter 

 the colour the less influence wiU the sun have upon the 

 hive and its contents. This question may be tested by 

 any one placing in the rays of the sun, on a hot 

 summer day, a board, half of which is painted white 

 and haK black. After being exposed for some time it 

 win be found, by applying the palm of the hand first 

 to one half, then to the other, that the black part has 

 absorbed more of the heat rays than the white, and is 

 therefore hotter. Mr. A. I. Boot, one of the foremost 

 of American bee-keepers, some years ago, in reply to. 

 a correspondent who complained of the heat melting 

 the combs in his hives, said that he had met with the 

 same trouble, but that since he had painted his hives 

 white he had not had a single break-down from that 

 cause. 



The next step in preparing the hive for the swarm is 

 to fit sheets of foundation into the bars. The sheets 

 of foundation, as received from the manufacturers for 

 fitting into the frames for the movable-comb hive, 

 measure, or should measure, 13J inches wide by 7f 

 inches deep. If each sheet be cut into two pieces 4f 

 and 3f in depth, the former, when fitted into the 

 narrow bars for use in the brood-chamber, wiU hang 

 dovni 4 inches, and the latter, placed in the wide bars 

 for the supers, will hang down 3 inches. In the 

 brood-chamber there wiU then be a space below the 



