22 BEEKEEPING 



in late years, where a swarm of bees, es- 

 caping from a local beekeeper, built in 

 a low tree and maintained itself for sev- 

 eral seasons. 



A "hive" as it is known to-day is sim- 

 ply a house or home for a colony of bees. 

 It may be either a simple box or a more 

 complicated structure adapted to the 

 proper handling and management of the 

 beekeeper. 



One of the first forms that the bee- 

 hive took was that of the straw "skep," 

 a conical affair formed of coiled layers of 

 straw rope and arranged with an open- 

 ing near the base for the bees to pass 

 through. Such skeps served to house the 

 colonies in almost perfect condition so far 

 as the physical welfare of the bees was 

 concerned, but they made no provision 

 for the owner to remove the surplus of 

 honey, and of course their construction 

 was such that it was impossible to manip- 

 ulate the combs or to exercise any con- 

 trol over the activity of the inhabitants. 



