152 



THE BEE-HP.'ES. 



in a circle. In fact, it is necessary that she should do so, 

 in order to lose no time in hunting for cells; else how could 

 she lay three thousand eggs, or more, per day? A very 

 shallow frame will break the circle, and compel her to lose 

 time. In a comb five inches deep, for instance, and fifteen 

 or sixteen inches long, the largest circular area contains less 

 than twenty square inches, or five hundred and fifty worker- 

 cells on each side. When these are occupied with eggs, the 

 queen, while hunting for empty cells, will find wood above 

 and below, instead of comb, at every half turn, and will lose 

 not only time, but eggs ; for, in the busy season, her eggs have 

 to drop, like mature fruit, if not laid in the cells. Loss of 

 eggs is loss of hees; loss of bees at the proper time is loss of- 



303. A two-story shallow brood-chamber is objectionable 



I' L 



ml 



H G 



Fig. 67. 



DIAGRAMS OF GALLUP AND LANGSTEOTH HIVES. 



(From the "A B C o£ Bee-Culture.") 



for the same reason. Besides, the bees which cover the brood 

 and keep it warm, must also keep warm the lower bar of the 

 top frame, the upper bar of the lower frame, and the space 

 between the two, without deriving any benefit from such an 

 arrangement. This division of the brood-combs, into two 

 shallow stories, is one of the causes which prevent the bee- 

 keepers of Germany from raising as many bees, in their hives, 

 as we do here in the ordinary Langstroth hives. This disad- 

 vantage was so evident that the bee-keepers of Switzerland, 

 who had adopted, as a standard, the Berlepsch hive (fig. 60), 

 decided to replace the double story by a single one of the 

 same dimension, as the Italian bee-keepers had done before, 

 but for half the hive only. 



