118 Box Hives. 



CHAPTER V. 

 HIVES AND SECTIONS. 



An early choice among the innumerable hives is of course 

 demanded ; and here let me state with emphasis, that none of the 

 standard hives are now covered by patents, so let no one buy rights. 

 Success by the skillful apiarist with almost any hive is possible. 

 Yet, without question, some hives are far superior to others, 

 and for certain uses, and with certain persons, some hives are 

 far preferable to others, though all may be meritorious. As a 

 change in hives, after one is once engaged in apiculture, involves 

 much time, labor, and expense, this becomes an important 

 question, and one worthy of earnest consideration by the pros- 

 pective apiarist.- I shall give it a first place, and a thorough 

 consideration, in this discussion of practical apiculture. 



BOX-Hr\'ES. 



I feel free to say that no person who reads, thinks, and studies 

 • — and success in apiculture can be promised to no other — will 

 ever be content to use the old box-hives. In fact, thought and 

 intelligence, which imply an eagerness to investigate, are essen- 

 tial elements in the apiarist's character, and to such a one a box- 

 hive would be valued just in proportion to the amount of 

 kindling-wood it contained. I shall entirely ignore box-hives 

 in the following discussions, for I believe no sensible, intelligent 

 apiarists, such as read books, Avill tolerate them, and that, sup- 

 jiosing they would, it would be an expensive mistake which I 

 have no right to encourage, in fact am bound to discourage, 

 not only for the benefit of individuals but also for the art itself. 



To be sure of success, the apiarist must be able to inspect 

 the whole interior of the hive at his pleasure, must be able to 

 exchange combs from one hive to another, and to regulate the 

 movements of the bees — by destroying queen-cells, by giving 

 or withholding drone-comb, by extracting the honey, by intro- 

 ducing queens, and by many other manipulations to be ex- 

 plained, which are only practicable with a movable comb hive. 



MOVABLE COMB HIVES. 



There are, at present, two types of the movable comb hive in 

 use among us, each of which is unquestionably valuable, as each 



