CHAPTER IV. 



HIVES. 



The Straw Skep. 



The straw step is a bell-shaped hive made of straw, in 

 which the bees can build their combs in any way they like, 

 fastening them to the roof and sides. Thus the combs cannot 

 be taken from a skep for examination, and it is consequently 

 called a " fixed-comb " hive. In this particular it differs 

 greatly from the " movable-comb " or " bar-frame " hive, for 

 in the latter every comb can be removed for examination and 

 returned to the hive with little disturbance to the bees. 



The Bar-frame Hive. 



In the bar-frame hive each separate comb is built in a 

 frame (fig. 5) like a box without top or bottom. 



Kg. 5. — Bar-frame. 



The British Bee-keepers' Associatiop has fixed the size of 

 the " standard " frame at 14 inches long by 8| inches deep, the 

 top bar 17 inches long by § inch thick, the side bars | inch 

 thick, the bottom bar J inch thick, the top and side bars g inch 

 wide, the bottom bar § inch wide. This is the frame now in 

 general use, and no bee-keeper should use any other size. 



The frames hang in the body hive, the ends of the top bars 

 resting on the inner walls, a space of \ inch being left between 

 the side bai's of the frames and the hive's walls. Each frame 

 should also hang | inch or | inch clear of the floor-board 

 (fig. 6). 



