FLOOR OR HIVE BOARDS. 73 
FLOOR OR HIVE BOARDS. 
The floor on which a hive is placed should be of 
wood, and not of any material too retentive either 
of heat or cold, as stone, slate, &c. In summer 
the melting of the combs often results, and in 
winter numerous lives are lost from chill. Every 
hive, of whatever kind, should stand upon its own 
separate board, so as to give facility for lifting, 
cleaning, or weighing the whole together at any 
time, without disturbance to the bees. 
The entrance into a hive is generally cut out of 
its bottom edge. This has a tendency to cause 
decay in that part, particularly if 
of straw; besides that, a hole so 
made affords but indifferent protec- | / 
tion from driving wet or a scorching 
sun, and gives imperfect facility for 
the escape of moisture from the 
hive. It is a better plan to sink 
the passage out of the thickness of 
the floor-board, till it reaches the inside of the hive. 
There are several ways of doing this, but a simple 
one is the following: Let the board be of thick, 
seasoned wood, and to prevent warping, screw two 
strong cross-bars to the underneath side, seven or 
eight inches apart. In size the floor-board ought 
to be a little larger than the exterior of the hive, 
from whence it should be chamfered down every 
way, to three-eighths of an inch at the edge. From 
the latter the entrance must be cut or grooved out, 
