THE HISTORICAL BEE-HIVE. 



135 



shrinkage with atmospheric changes. Hives should be so made 

 that in the manipulating of them it will not be necessary to injure 

 any of the inmates in the slightest degree. 



The hives in use in this State are the Langstroth or Lang- 

 stroth Simplicity, although occasionally we meet with the Gallup, 

 the Heddon, the Quinby, the Berlepsch, the Long-Idea, etc., or 

 modifications thereof. 



The following description is taken from Cheshire's Bees and 

 Bee-keeping, Vol. II.* "The body-boxes (bb) are each 5| inch 

 deep, by 19 7-8 inch, by 13 inch, outside the ends 7-8 inch, and 

 the sides § inch thick. Before nailing together, the inner part 

 of the top and bottom edges is rebated down 3-16 inch, leaving 

 a rim 3-8 inch wide only, so that when the boxes come together 

 they touch only at the 3-8 inch rim, while the 3-16 inch rebate in 

 each make together a full bee-space (bs) of 3-8 inch. This prin- 

 ciple of allowing a half bee-space above and below in each horizon- 

 tal section of the hive, so that the needed 3-8 inch and no more is 

 given in any possible combination, is a salient and new feature in 

 the Heddon hive. The bottom board carries a lath 3-8 inch deep 

 and 3-8 inch wide at its upper edge, upon which the hives rest, 

 so that a larger, but not excessive, bee-space is made beneath. 

 An entrance (e) is thus secured, which is regulated by the Lang- 

 stroth blocks (lblb). Since the body -boxes are made invertible, 

 Mr. Heddon has felt himself compelled to abandon the hanging 

 Langstroth frame, and adopt a modification of the standing form 

 of Quinby with wide ends. This frame he dove-tails together in 

 the manner of section-boxes. The top and bottom bars are \ 

 inch by 13-16 inch by 18 1-16 inch, while the end pieces are 3-8 

 inch by 1 3-8 inch by 5 3-8 inch, i.e. (to preserve the before- 

 mentioned bee-space) 3-8 inch shallower than the body-box itself 

 within which the length of the frame has 1-16 inch play. It will 

 be seen that the end pieces of these frames are 9-16 inch wider 

 than the top and bottom bars; hence the space between any two 

 top bars, or bottom bars, will always be 9-16 inch, by which the 

 bees pass freely from section to section of the hive body. To pre- 

 vent these frames falling through the body-box, the inside measure 

 of which is 1-16 inch greater than their external length, strips 

 of tin are nailed on to the lower rebates of the end pieces. These 

 tin strips project 1-8 inch, and give a resting-place for the frames 



* I have given Cheshire's measurements in detail, because they art 

 the sizes now universally adopted. 



