44 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



Of course, with a 2-inch space under the bottom-bars the 

 bees would build down, sometimes even as early as dandelion 

 bloom. Before that time I shove under the bottom-bars a 

 bottom-rack. As material for a rack there are 2 pieces 18 x 1 

 X %, and 21 pieces 101/2 x % x %. The little pieces are nailed 

 upon the %-inch sides of the two larger pieces, ladder-fashion, 

 with y2-inch space between each two strips. The strips are 

 allowed to project over at each side about an inch. 



I -^-alue this bottom-rack highly. It prevents building down, 

 and at the same time gives the bees nearly the full benefit of 



Fig. 14 — Wagonload of bees. 



the deep space, pre\enting over-heating in hot weather, thus 

 sei'ving as no small factor in the prevention of swarming. It 

 also saves the labor of lifting the hive off the bottom-board to 

 reverse the bottom-board and then lifting the hive back again, 

 spring and fall. Instead of being made in the way described, 

 a board 101/2 inches long may be split up irregularly and used 

 for the cross-pieces. Such a bottom-rack is shown at Fig. 12. 

 Now for that entrance-block. Formerly I made it heavy 

 (Fig. 13), but now it is thin, % inch or so thick, 12 inches long 

 and 3 inches wide. It is lightly nailed upon the hive by one or 



