56 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
There will be less of room wasted in a hive thus 
formed, inasmuch as the combs are stored down 
to the bottom cells, which is rarely the case in a 
high and narrow one. A low wooden hoop is often 
used, worked at the bottom of the hive; or, as Dr. 
Bevan says, “the lower round of straw may be 
begun upon a wooden hoop, the bottom of which 
has been planed smooth; it should be perforated 
through its whole course, and the perforations 
made in an oblique direction, so distant from each 
other as to cause all the stitches of the hive to 
range in a uniform manner.” The hoop gives 
greater stability to the hive, preserves the lower edge 
from decay, and affords facility in moving it. 
The custom of plastering round the bottom edge 
of a hive with mortar or clay is better omitted. 
Its own increasing weight will settle it down to 
its board: at all events no cement is equal to 
that used by the bees themselves; any other only 
serves to accelerate the decay of the hive, besides 
presenting an impediment on occasional removal 
for cleaning or inspection. 
STRAW DEPRIVING HIVES. 
Straw skeps are best adapted to the depriving 
system when made rather cylindrical than bell- 
shaped, and as nearly as possible flat on the top, 
so as readily to support a bell-class or other form 
of super. The bee-keeper who prefers to be his own 
hive-maker has first to purchase a skep with a 
fairly flat top, and measuring inside about sixteen 
