74 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



best varieties. Now, the straw skep, although very far 

 from the best hive, is not to be despised ; indeed, it is a 

 very useful hive, and however advanced the Bee-keeper 

 may be, generally, he is not wholly without it in one 

 pattern or the other. If a census were taken of the 

 Bees' dwellings throughout Britain, the skeps would far 

 outnumber all other kinds put together. A well-made 

 straw hive is warm and healthy for the Bees, and cheap 

 to their owner ; indeed, most cottagers make their own, 

 costing almost nil, and affording employment for a wet 

 winter's day when other work is scarce. I like a skep, 

 it is so nice and handy ; and if its interior were not like 

 a sealed book it should have an honoured place in my 

 Apiary ; but its great disadvantage is the impossibility 

 of investigating its internal economy with satisfaction. 



Fig. 4. Fig. s. 



Common Cottage Straw Skep. — Two patterns are 

 generallyfollowed in making these hives. The one which 

 I suppose we may call the " original," Fig. 4, a closed 

 dome, usually with a ring at the top ; the other the 

 " improved," Fig. 5, has a flat top, with a feeding hole in 

 the centre, which should not exceed two inches in 

 diameter. This latter is incomparably the best, as it 

 affords proper facilities for feeding the Bees, which will 

 often save their lives ; its cost is from \s. to 4^. 6d., and 

 it may be purchased in most country towns. All straw 



