136 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
from back to front; the height of each of the three 
lower boxes is five inches and three-quarters, the 
bottom open in all. With the exception of the top or 
shallow honey-box, the construction of each is the 
same; the roof is flat, and consists of seven fixed 
bars, each one inch and a half wide, and between each 
two bars are grooves three-eighths of an inch wide, 
which are capable of being closed by strips of wood. 
When the boxes are severally placed above the stock, 
these slips are withdrawn, to allow the bees to ascend, 
and they are prevented from escaping at the openings 
outwards of the grooves by little blocks of wood fitted 
in at the back of the hive. The two lower boxes have 
an additional cross-bar, to give strength to the combs. 
Each box has a window back and 
front, closed by a movable shutter, 
and every one of the three larger 
boxes may be used as a stock-box 
hy the withdrawal of a slip of 
wood from the front, which imme- 
uately forms an entrance for the 
bees to come and go. The swarm 
is hived into two boxes joined and 
communicating with each other. 
When these are filled, the super 
or honey-box is added. As more 
| room is required, another of the 
large boxes is added below the 
stock, the original entrance is 
closed by a slide, and a new one opened by a similar 
slide in the nadir. In the winter this lower box is 
removed, and the combs left in it undisturbed for 
