86 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



glad this question has been mooted, for it gives us the 

 opportunity of saying that hives of two or three sizes are 

 of great advantage to a bee-keeper who acts on a principle, 

 sound and natural, and with his eye constantly open to 

 his own interests. 



All seasons are not alike favourable, and all swarms are 

 not equally large, and some are early and some late in 

 leaving their mother hives. When we come to the chapter 

 on swarming, instructions will be given as to which size 

 of hive will be best for certain swarms and seasons, but 

 half a word to the wise is enough. 



The shape of hives may be rather conical at the top, 

 or flat crowned. It is a matter of taste and convenience 

 this. Some bee-keepers like the one sort and some the 

 other ; and some skep or hive makers can produce or 

 buUd a hive each after his own pattern only. "We have 

 been accustomed to the use of hives rather flat in their 

 crowns, and we prefer them to the hives with conical 

 crowns. 



Here is a straw hive 18 inches by 12. Its sides are 

 nearly perpendicular; its crown nearly flat. It has an 

 opening 4|^ inches wide in the crown for a super, and a 

 lid to cover that opening when supers are not required. 

 The 16-inch hives are made after the same fashion — aU 

 with holes in their crowns for supers of honeycomb. A 

 well-made 18-inch hive weighs when empty about 5 lb., 

 and a 16-inch one about 4 lb. 



