ITALIAN BEE KEEPING. 



CHAPTER II. 

 THE GIOTTO HIVE- 



The Giotto hive consists simply of a number of small wooden 

 frames, in which the bees build their combs. These frames are 

 something like those of the ordinary frame hives so well known 

 in England ; bnt they have this material difference and advantage, 

 that they reqnire no other onter hive to protect them, as they are 

 made of thick wood, and therefore, withont covering, stand any 

 weather, from the heat of an Italian summer to the frosts and wet 

 of winter. They do not even reqnire to be painted. The Giotto 

 frames are simply solid frames, and a hive is formed by arranging any 

 nnmber of these in a row, on any dry level space, like the top of a 

 low wall (if it be flat and over a foot wide), withont any other pro- 

 tection than a few loose tiles (Fig. 1) put on them as a roof. There 



Tile fob covEBiNa Hive. 



are little passages for the bees to enter between every two frames, 

 and the ends of the hive are closed by two upright boards, b, b, 

 (Fig. 2), which are supported in their places by two struts, c, 

 nailed to them at right angles. These boards at either end can be 

 at any time removed, in order to add empty frames, when the 

 hive is full. In this respect these hives have a great advantage 

 over English hives with bars or frames, as they can be enlarged 

 to any extent, not only laterally, but also by adding one, two, 

 or three stories, or by taking out alternate fuU frames and re- 

 placing them with empty ones, or placing a second story below. 

 In this way the hive can be redoubled in size, and the bees wiU fill 

 regularVy the empty frames, not only in the old story, but also in 



