34 THE APIAUT; OR, 



COTTAGER'S HIVE, No. 8. 



POE TAKING HONEY IN STRAW CAPS WITHOUT THE 

 DESTRUCTION OP THE BEES. 



A very prevalent opinion exists 

 that bees do better in straw than in 

 hives made of any other material. 

 Another opinion prevails, viz., that 

 the old fashioned straw hive is the 

 least expensive, the most simple, and 

 the most productive. Although we 

 cannot go so far as this, we are 

 willing to admit that a simplified 

 adaptation of the humane system to 

 the old common straw hive is the 

 most suitable to put into the hands 

 of that large class of bee-keepers — ■ 

 Cottagers. By these the more fanciful hives will be instantly 

 condemned; besides, the expense puts them quite beyond the 

 reach of the poorer class. The object aimed at in planning our 

 Cottager's Hive has been to furnish a depriving hive that should be at 

 once easy of management, in-expensive, and convenient. The stock 

 hive, into which the bees are first hived, is a round straw hive, 

 having a flat top with a hole in the centre. The size of this 

 lower hive is 7 or 8 inches deep, 14 inches across the bottom, 

 finished with a wooden hoop, which adds very much to the firmness 

 and durability of the hive. The floorboard \s\\ inch thick, with a 

 way sunk therein for the entrance. A small round mat of straw 

 closes the hole on the top ; this mat may be fixed by wooden 

 pegs. We have now described what is termed the stoch hive, which 

 is, in fact, an old fashioned straw hive adapted, modernised, and 

 improved to the more humane, viz., the depriving system. The 

 weight of the stock hive with its floorboard is about 7 lbs. 



The super or cap hive is about 7 inches deep, 8 inches in 

 diameter, and when filled contains about 10 lbs. of honey and 

 comb. A glass window which is placed at the side is useful for in- 

 specting the progress made in filling it. 



A common straw hive, sufficiently deep to cover, drops over the 

 super, keeping the window dark and fitting close on to the stock hive. 



