THE BAE-FBAME HIVE. 91 



keepers who like to get a liar of honeycomb now and 

 then ] Perhaps they are ; but anybody may get honey- 

 comb from a common hive more easily than from a bar- 

 frame one. By using comb-knives, he could cut out of a 

 common hive 2 lb. or 4 lb. or 6 lb. of honeycomb about 

 as soon as he could unscrew the lid or top of a bar-frame 

 one. 



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Here are two tools used for cutting combs out of hives, 

 and which are exceedingly handy when we want a few 

 pounds of honeycomb. They are useful on more occa- 

 sions ; but they are introduced here to the notice of the 

 reader, merely to let him see that movable bars in a 

 hive are not at aU necessary for the purpose of obtaining 

 a comb of honey. 



The broad tool or knife is simply a piece of iron or 

 steel, vrith a chisel end, for cutting the combs from the 

 sides of the hive, and for splitting them elsewhere. The 

 other is a rod of steel, rather more than a quarter of an 

 inch thick, with a thin blade at the end 1^ inch long- 

 both edges sharp — for cutting the combs off at the top of 

 the hive, or crosswise anywhere. These knives should be 

 from 20 to 24 inches long. 



But do you not consider the bar-frame hive very useful 

 to the student of bee-history 1 Yes, very ; for he can 

 take out a bar of comb and examine the brood in it daily, 

 or as often as he chooses. The bees do not always make 

 their combs in the line of the bars ; and when they do so, 

 the bars are not movable without great sacrifice. And 

 while the combs in a bar-frame hive are not wholly made. 



