148 



AUSTRALIAN BEE LOBE AND BEE CULTURE- 



FRAME BLOCK. 



Accuracy in the external measurements of the bar-frames, inde- 

 pendent of the name they bear or of the form or size of their 

 make, is of utmost importance. Whatever may be the design of 

 the hive selected, and the size of the frame adopted, uniform 

 •external measurement must be continually observed. To facilitate 

 this, many methods have been tried, and many an invention put 

 before bee-keepers all with more or less success, but none perfect. 

 Some of them, perhaps the most, have been cumbersome to 

 handle, and difficult to adjust. Amateur bee-keepers who make 

 their own frames soon discarded them, and fell back on hap- 

 hazard guesswork, resulting in the discovery that home-made bar- 

 frames are always more or less awry, fail to hang plumb, and if 

 there be a sufficiency of bee space between the top bars, there 

 is too much between the bottom bars, or the bees will persistently 

 build between the side bar and the hive. They try every remedy 

 suggested, and finally come to the conclusion that to be a fairly 

 good practical bee-keeper needs a well-fitted carpenter's shop, 

 plenty of patience, and an apprenticeship to boot . 



Now the following very simple contrivance will save an infi- 

 nite amount of trouble, a deal of vexation of spirit, and amateur 

 carpentering, and bee-keeping by means of its use will be voted an 

 ■enjoyable and profitable pastime. 



C F 



Fig. a. 



F 



Of course, it is constructed of wood. Cedar or redwood is the 

 best kind of timber, on account of its lightness. A piece of f- 

 inch stuff 22 in. x 9 in., and two pieces of inch stuff, 9 in. x 2 in. is 

 -all the wood that will be necessary. As this bar-frame block will 



