THE NADIR SYSTEM. 131 
which is converted into the stock, occasioning much 
subsequent inconvenience. Ihave not found such to 
be the case where the stock, and the entrance into it, 
are not interfered with; and am inclined to believe that 
this adaptation of bottom-hiving is worthy of much 
more attention than it has received—to say nothing of 
its simplicity, safety in management, and obvious con- 
venience to the bees. I will therefore proceed to show 
in what way it may be made generally applicable to 
the purposes of an apiary. 
We have just pointed out that the mode we are 
now discussing differs from the nadir principle, and 
by way of distinction, the term ‘‘nether” will be 
used, not only to mark the difference, but as pre- 
senting a contrast to the opposite word “super.” 
We are to suppose that the shelf on which the 
hives are ranged in a bee-house is perforated under 
the centre of each, from back to front, with an 
opening through, three inches long, and about three- 
quarters of an inch wide. The hive-board must be 
a separate loose one; and it ought to lie fat on the 
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