MODERN BEEHIVES. 



[Ch. III. 



§ III. THE COTTAGER'S HIVE. 



This is our more complete form of a cottager's hive, 

 composed entirely of straw. A very prevalent opinion 

 exists that bees do better in 

 hives of that material than of 

 any other. Another opinion 

 prevails, that the old-fashioned 

 straw hive is the least expen- 

 sive, the most simple, and the 

 most productive. Although we 

 cannot go so far as this, we are 

 willing to admit that a sim- 

 plified adaptation of the humane 

 system to the old common straw 

 hive is the most suitable to put 

 into the hands of that large class 

 of bee-keepers — cottagers. By 

 these the more fanciful hives will 

 be instantly condemned ; besides, the expense puts them 

 quite beyond the reach of the poorer class. The object 

 aimed at in planning this structure has been to furnish 

 a depriving hive that should be at once easy of manage- 

 ment, inexpensive, and convenient. The stock hive, in 

 which the bees are first deposited, is round, and has a 

 flat top with a hole in the centre. The size of this lower 

 hive is nine inches deep outside, and fifteen inches 

 across the bottom ; it is finished with a wooden hoop, 



