CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 33 



I will now try to describe. All my hives are factory made, ten- 

 frame Langstroth dimensions. All flat covers have been set 

 aside and telescope covers substituted. No inner covers, or honey- 

 boards, are used. This cover rests on a rabited cleat that extends 

 all around the hive. This cleat is fastened at a proper distance 

 from the top of the hive-body to allow a beespace between the 

 upper edge of the hive-body and the cover. On the inside top of 

 the cover is fastened a piece of "wall board," 13 3-4 by 17 1-2 

 inches. This "wall board" is between 1-4 and 3-8 of an inch 

 •thick. The cleat on which the cover rests is rabited so as to 

 leave a 3-8 inch space all raound between the hivebody and 

 cover, and over the edges of the hivebody and above the frames. 

 The cover, inside measure, for a hivebody 16 inches wide is 5 1-8 

 by 16 3-4 by 20 3-4 inches. 



All joints and cracks are filled with hot rosin or pitch and 

 the inside of the hivebody and cover is given three coats of 

 varnish. 



The cross section of the Constructive Hive given here shows 

 at a glance the consrtuction of the cover and the way it is 

 supported on the hive. Note how similar in principle is this 

 cover to the inverted pan that is set in the garden and which 

 has dew deposited on the inside surface in the morning. 



The bees seem to regard this cover as the final word on 

 inside finish, and they are the ones whose approval we must look 

 for. Never have I found one attempt to intrefere on their part. 

 The cover in the fall is just as free from propolis as it was the 

 day it was given to them. 



This cover was built as the result of conclusions arrived at 

 from a study of condensation of moisture. The only object when 

 designing it was to make the hive a condenser that would ileave 

 the condensed water where the bees could use it, but its good 

 points do not stop at that one thing, as I have observed after its 

 use for some time. These good points are as follows : 



