86 THE APIARY. 



exactly the same dimensions ; this material being wanner 

 in winter, slightly ventilating, and allowing of absorp- 

 tion. Bees, during cold weather, cluster together to 

 generate the requisite degree of heat ; the temperature 

 of the interior of the hive being thus so much higher 

 than the external atmosphere, a good deal of moisture 

 condenses at the top and on the sides of the hive. The 

 straw, as before stated, prevents this dampness hanging 

 about the hive, and tends to keep the inmates more 

 healthy. Dampness in a hive is a fruitful source of 

 mischief, causing empty combs to grow mouldy, and is 

 injurious in many ways. 



The square straw hives, and a machine for making 

 them, exhibited in the Austrian department of the Inter- 

 national Exhibition of 1 862, suggested the idea of employ- 

 ing that material for English bar and frame hives. We 

 have had a machine made somewhat similar to the one 

 exhibited, and suited to the size of our hives, by which 

 our hive-maker is able to manufacture neat square straw 

 hives. These have a wood frame at top, an inch deep, 

 with the requisite notches to allow the ten^-comb frames 

 to hang. A similar frame forms the base, the straw 

 being worked between. The floor-board is one and a 

 quarter inch thick, "keyed" with stout keys, as before 

 mentioned. An inch projection is left on all sides 

 beyond the exterior of the hive, from which it is slightly 

 chamfered down. An entrance, four inches wide, is 

 cut out of the substance of the board, beginning at 



