62 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



falls. When the wood and comt are thus cemented to- 

 gether, the ■wood is nailed in the crown of an empty hive, 

 as a guide to the bees to buUd their combs running from 

 front to back. When the combs are so built, the bees 

 can see the door from the centre of the hive, or anything 

 going in at the door, which they could not do if the 

 combs ran from side to side. 



As soon as the guide-comb is nailed into an empty hive, 

 we drive cross-sticks across the hive, from side to side. 

 In a 16-inch hive we use foui and five, and in an 18-inch 

 hive we use five and six cross-sticks. 



As soon as the combs are well started from the crown 

 of the hive, they are securely fastened to the top centre- 

 stick ; and as they are enlarged they are cemented to the 

 other sticks. The bottom sticks should be at least four 

 inches above the board ; for if lees, the bees sometimes do 

 not close their combs round them. Hives thus sticked 

 and filled with combs may be safely removed from one 

 end of the country to the other. 



Another advantage of using sticks in hives is this, that 

 the bees, being great economists, use them for cross-lanes. 

 Where the combs cross the sticks, and are fastened to 

 them, the bees leave little holes or doors in the combs, 

 which they use as passages from comb to comb. They 

 thus shorten their journeys for indoor work. In hives 

 without sticks, such byways and convenient passages are 

 very rare indeed. 



