226 AUSTRALIAN BEE LOKE AND BEE CULTURE- 



the junction of atarter and top bar. The wax will cool in two or 

 three seconds, when the starter will be found firmly attached. 



In connection with the Allwood and other machine-made 

 frames, foundation fasteners of other construction adaptable to 

 frame used are obtainable, and will be described under "ap- 

 pliances." 



Fig 12, Cradle or Section Holder. — If the brood chamber be 

 the most interesting part of a hive, and the knowledge and mani- 

 pulation of it be the key to successful bee-keeping, then the 

 knowledge and manipulation of the super and its adjuncts are the 

 most interesting from a commercial and domestic point of view. 

 The surplus honey stored in the super is the just reward of the 

 bee-keeper. To obtain it in its most attractive and purest form 

 should be the aim of both the practical and the amateur bee-keeper. 

 For home consumption the most attractive form in which honey 

 can be sent to table is "honey in the comb," although not the 

 most profitable, and that stored in 1 lb. sections is much neater 

 than that cut from larger slabs or frames. The beautiful white- 

 wood American section to my mind is the apex of perfection. 



SECTIONS, ETC., FOR A LANGSTROTH HIVE. 



(See diagrams on page 228). 



Section-holders are of two forms, as seen in the diagrams. A 

 is worked exactly as the shallow frames, that is, it has shoulders 

 that rest on the rebates in the same manner, and they are handled 

 in the same way. The ends are the full width of the sections (C), 

 i.e., 1| inch, the bottom bar on which the sections rest is \\ 

 inch, and is fixed to the ends so as to leave bee-space on each side. 

 The shoulders are the full width of the ends. They are made to 

 fit into the hive with bee-space on either side. But the internal 

 measurement of the cradle is of more importance than the outer. 

 It must hold four sections, that is, it must be 17 in. x 4J in. 

 The internal measurement of the section is 4 in. x 4 in., external 

 4 J in. x 4 \ in. The closer the sections fit in the cradle, and the 

 •closer the cradles fit to each other, the less chance for the bees 

 to use propolis to stop up the interstices; by so working the 

 cradles and sections, the latter are kept cleaner and more at- 

 tractive. An eight-frame Langstroth hive will take six cradles 

 of four sections each. 



K is a separator. One is put between every cradle. Their 

 use is to prevent the bees building their cells so as to project beyond 



