GLASS HIVES. 59 



in wet weather ; these want to open and shut without 

 rubbing or sticking, otherwise we disturb the bees 

 every time a door is stirred. Putty should not be used 

 to hold the glass, as the bees in the course of a few 

 years will cover it with propolis ; it is then neces 

 sary to take it out, and scrape, clean, and return it, 

 when, if fastened with putty, it would be difi&cult ; 

 cold weather is the time for this operation. I am aware 

 that a hive can be more substantially made than the 

 one here described; but I have endeavored to make 

 one as cheap as possible, and if properly made, will 

 answer. The cost will be much less than many pa- 

 tents, and the satisfaction much more, at least, with 

 many. When our hive contains a swarm of bees, and 

 they are thoroughly in operation, we must not let 

 them pass out at the, bottom on every side, as they 

 are frequently allowed to do from other hives ; be- 

 cause, should one come out a little excited'in conse- 

 quence of a slight jar, accidentally ^ven the hive, on 

 opening the door or some other way, and should find our 

 fece within a foot of their house, peering in the window 

 among their works, it would be very likely to give us 

 a gentle hint that it was a mark of low breeding, that 

 we were not wanted there at all, and that it was none 

 of our business what they were doing. To prevent 

 this as far as possible, a bottom-board, somewhat dif- 

 ferent from the common one, is needed. Four posts 

 of chestnut or other lasting wood, about two inches 

 square, are driven into the earth in the form of a 

 square, far enough apart to come under the corners of 

 the bottom-board, (fifteen inches,) and high enough for 



