THE beekeepers' DIRECTORY. 



103 



1 . It should have movable frames and so constructed that 

 the bees will not build brace-combs between and over the top- 

 bars. 



2. The brood-chamber should not be so large that there 

 would be room for the bees to work and build combs between 

 the end of the frames and the end of the hive. A space 

 of i inch is all the room that is necessary for drawing the 

 frames without killing any bees. The same rule must be ap- 

 plied to the space between the top-bars and the honey-board, 

 or whatever is used ov^r the frames. If a space of over J inch 

 is allowed over the frames the bees will fill it with comb and 

 honey. When this is the case it will require a heavy instru- 

 ment to raise a section-case, or to remove the honey-board 

 and as all such operations irritate the bees the operator will 

 be likely to get badly stung. Three-sixteenths of an inch 

 over the frames is as much space as is necessary to let a bee 

 pass. 



3. The frames should not reach within half an inch of the 

 bottom of the hive. There is no danger of the bees building 

 the comb down through the bottom-bars unless there is an inch 

 or more space under them. A large amount of room is needed 

 under the frames for the health of the bees, and for the proper 

 ventilation of the hive. Bees will winter better, the combs 

 mould less and more honey will be stored in the sections in 

 hives that have a good bee-space under the frames. Why ? for 

 the reason that the hive will be well ventilated. Good ventila- 

 tion in a hot day will keep the interior so comfortable that the 

 bees will not be forced to desert the sections and cluster 

 upon the outside of the hive. It also aids the^bees to ripen 

 the new honey better and more quickly. 



4. The entrance to the hive should be not less than ten 

 inches long and half an inch high. With the entrance blocks 

 described on another page the size of the entrance is easily 

 and quickly enlarged or contracted. Take a blockof wood 

 at least seven-eighths of an inch thick and four inches long 

 and about three inches wide, saw it in two from opposite 

 corners. By placing the blocks in difi'erent positions, the 

 entrance may be made to admit only one bee at a time, or 

 enlarged to several inches in width. 



5. All hives should be arranged and adapted to tiering 

 the sections. It is much the best plan to tier the sections 



