240 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
as the inner combs have been employed wholly for 
brood, they will now be almost destitute of honey. 
With frame hives, therefore, the outer ones, or at 
least such of these as are without drone-comb, should 
be transposed to the centre, that the cluster of bees 
may be supplied with provisions close to themselves. 
The outermost of all are better removed altogether, 
and the interior dimensions contracted by means of 
dummies. Also, in order to save the bees from having 
to pass round the cold ends of the frames, to avoid 
which they will sometimes prefer to be starved, it 
is necessary to cut a hole, an inch in diameter, in 
the centre of each comb, about one-third from the 
top. Within each of these winter passages, says 
Mr. Cheshire, place a coiled shaving of wood, which 
will prevent the bees from filling it up with comb. 
Mr. Taylor remarks that “hives with flat roofs 
have sometimes been objected to, and perhaps 
justly, where no provision is made for ventilation.” 
Mr. Cheshire admits that the skep possesses an «& 
priort advantage over the frame hive for wintering, 
but on the ground of warmth rather than of 
superior ventilation. The combs in the skep, he 
reminds us, are attached not only to the top, but to 
the sides of the hive, so that the bees between two 
combs are completely shut in from draughts. To 
put the two on a par, and obtain warmth together 
with porosity for the wooden frame hive, he recom- 
mends placing between the frames and the crown- 
board a double or triple layer of the kind of matting 
used for fish-baskets, and known as bast or frail; 
a folded sack will cover the whole, and then, if the 
