38 MINER’S EQUILATERAL CROSS-BAR HIVE. 
while it remedies their defects. It also combines several other impor- 
tant principles—placing the bees completely under the observation 
and control of the keeper, in all their various operations. 
MINER’S EQUILATERAL CROSS-BAR HIVE. 
Tam frequently asked the question if I have ever seen this hive of 
which Mr. M. is making so much ado about; and asI think it will 
pobably gratify the curiosity of some, I will endeavor to give a fair 
and correct description of it, which I think I can do ina very few 
words. 
The hive is equilateral, (signifying of equal dimensions on all its 
sides.) The main body of the hive is twelve inches square in the 
clear, and is surmounted with a super for obtaining surplus honey. 
The great advantages Mr. M. claims for this hive over all others are, 
first, its simplicity ; second, the advantages of the cross-bars. These 
cross-bars (as Mr. Bevan terms them in his hive) are to guide the 
bees in the construction of their combs, that they may be parallel, and 
more uniform in their thickness, affording a greater amount of brood- 
combs. Mr. M. contends, that if the bees are left to their own judg- 
ment and instinct in their comb-building, they will unwisely construct 
them in all manner of zig-zag forms and thickness, without regard to 
the wants of their queen, and the welfare of the family, and the con- 
sequence will be that there will be but a small amount of combs con- 
structed suitable for the queen to deposit her eggs in, and she will 
therefore be curtailed in her laying, and hence, not as many young 
bees will be produced, as if she were supplied with combs suited to 
her wants. According to this reasoning, it would appear, that unlike 
all other productions of the Great Architect, the bee came forth from 
its Maker imperfect in its instinct and habits, and is dependent on man 
to guide and direct her in her various operations. But it is evident, 
I think, from the course she has pursued since her creation to the pre- 
sent time, that she does not necessarily need the wisdom of man to 
direct and guide her in the constructions of her combs, or in any of 
the various avocations of the hive. 
Mr. M., however, in his Manual, admits; (or says) that “not all the 
art and genius of man can teach her one jot or tittle of knowledge.” “Nor 
