42 



THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 



hive ; the upper part being made an inch or more larger in diameter 

 so as to rest on the topmost band of the hive. My own hive of this 

 principle is, I think, somewhat an improvement on the above. The 

 crown board — which, like Mr. Taylor's, is constructed of two pieces of 

 well-seasoned wood, planed smooth and glued together, (the grain of 

 the wood in one piece crossing the grain of the other, to prevent warp- 

 ing,) and having a four-inch hole in its centre- — is not made to fit into 

 the hive's inner diameter, but the two pieces of which it is composed 

 being made of exactly the same diameter, they together rest on the upper 

 edge of the h#e. This double board also 

 projects over the sides of the hiv& an inch 

 or more. There are two ways of fastening 

 it to the hive ; either by passing three or 

 more long thin screws, (well greased to fa- 

 cilitate their removal,) through the board 

 into a stout hoop of two or three inches in 

 breadth, (which must be made to surround 

 the upper part of the hive,) provided this 

 hoop be thick enough; or by the use of hinges, 

 or rectangular pieces of iron, of which one 

 leaf is screwed to the under side of the 



crownboard, and the other to the outer side of the hoop. Two or three 

 of these will serve to keep the top firmly in its place, assisted by the 

 milk-pan cover, and their cost is a mere trifle. Besides the hoop of 

 wood just mentioned, (which I prefer to Mr. Taylor's external band of 

 straw,) there should be a second hoop, half the breadth of the other, 

 worked into the lower edge or base of the hive. The method of ar- 

 ranging the top here proposed, gives many of the advantages, at the 

 same time that it avoids the extra expense, of Mr. Golding's bar hive. 

 When it is desired to get at the interior, all that is requisite, after 

 driving out the bees, (temporarily or finally,) is to pass a long knife or 

 spatula, under the crown board all around, thus severing the combs 

 completely from it ; after which, the screws at the side being with- 

 drawn, it will come off at once. The peculiar shape of the hive, sup- 

 posing it is intended as a substitute for Mr. Golding's hive ; that is, 

 wider at one end than at the other — renders something of this sort neces- 

 sary, as the combs cannot otherwise be got out entire, neither can any 

 partial deprivation of the honey take place, which will often be desira- 



