LADIES' OBSERVATORY HIVE. 



77 



THE LADIES' OBSERVATORY OR CRYSTAL 

 BEE-HIVE. 



The following- engraving illustrates the construction 

 of the Ladies' Observatory Hive. The stock-hive is 

 cylindrical, with a flat top and 

 a hole in the centre ; the di- 

 mensions twelve and a half 

 inches inside, eight and a half 

 inches deep; the outer cover 

 being- raised, and made of 

 stout glass, so as not easily to 

 break. A support, composed 

 of even wooden bars fixed on 

 a pedestal from the floor- 

 board, is very useful for the 

 bees to cling to and attach 

 their combs, instead of resting wholly against the glass. 



The floor-board is of mahogany, the border being 

 French polished. A middle-sized bell-glass, for depriva- 

 tion, is placed over the hole ; this hole may be closed by a 

 zinc slide. A cover of straw, eighteen inches deep, fifteen 

 inches wide, with a zinc ventilating top similar to that 

 affixed to the cottage hive, completes the arrangements. 

 The weight of the stock-hive and board is about i61bs. 



This hive is well adapted for those persons who are 

 desirous of having the opportunity of more closely ex- 

 amining the workmanship of these industrious and inte- 

 resting insects, as the whole of the interior may be 



