ITAIIAN BBB KEEPING. 11 



Or the honey and wax also can be taken (and if desired, after- 

 wards separated by the maohine) by cutting the comb out of the 

 frame, and putting back the empty frame, but by doing this the 

 bees would lose much valuable time making fresh comb to store the 

 honey in. The secret of success in this system is to take as much 

 honey as possible (always of course leaving comba untouched for 

 the bees) and as little wax ; for though the wax fetches a higher 

 price than honey, yet the bees consume much honey in making it, 

 and a hive full of comb will not yield more than 21b. of wax. 



To Make the Fbames. 



A plank of well-seasoned deal, measuring 12ft. 2iin. in length, 

 lin. in thiokneas, and 1ft. Sin. in width, costs in Florence 3fr., or 

 2s. 6d. English money. 



This plank will make forty frames (as shown in Fig. 4), and 

 allowing lOd. for sawing and for 160 long nails, will thus coat 40d., 

 or Id. each. 



To make the frames, this plank may be cut lengthwise into ten 

 long straight strips; each of these should then be cut into four 

 equal shorter strips, or forty in all, every one of these shorter strips 

 will make a frame, for which 3ft. OJin. of wood in length is neces- 

 sary ; as the plank was an inch thick, the pieces are already of the 

 requisite thickness, and aa to the width they should all, to begin 

 with, be planed down to the exact width of Ifin. 



Tate one of these 3ft. Oiin. long, l|in. wide, and lin. thick pieces, 

 and cut it into four, two of Sin. in length for the two sides, one of 

 S^in. for the bottom, and the remainder will be about a foot long, 

 which will make the top bar. 



One of the two sides (the one that forms the back of the frame) 

 is now ready ; but the other, which will form the front, has to have 

 the bee entrance cut at the foot. Only half of the width of bee 

 entrance is cut off the bottom of each, for two frames put together 

 will then have between them a complete entrance. Therefore, take 

 this piece for the front and at fin. from the end, on both aides, rule 

 with pencil lines across the one-inch sides, as aa in Fig. 5, and out 

 through these lines to a depth of Jin. into the wood, then with a 

 chisel out away the comers a h (Fig. S), and the end will remain 

 as in Fig. 6. 



Then take the piece a foot long for the top, together with the 

 bottom piece ; lay the latter on the former, on the side which is 

 Ifin. wide. With a pencil mark off the two ends, as J 6 in Fig, 7 ; 

 so that the space a I (Fig. 8) exactly corresponds in length with the 

 bottom piece, and will leave two projections, A and B (Fig. 7), each 

 about l|in, in length. Then remove the bottom piece, and saw 



