PETTITTS IMPRCFED STRAir HIVE. 37 



sliding in a groove cut in the wood ; over these holes one 

 or more honey-glasses can be placed at the will of the bee- 

 keeper in early spring. A straw cap is used to cover the 

 top with the honey-glasses ; a common straw skep will 

 answer the purpose. This hive possesses all the requisites, 

 of a good cottage hive. 



Milton's Cottage Hive is similar to the above, and, 

 when Mr. Milton introduced it to the apiarian world in 

 1846, it was thought to be so useful, and withal such a 

 first-class honey-making hive, that he gained the Ceres 

 Medal from the Society of Arts. The only real difference 

 in either size or style is that, instead of having only one 

 board fastened on the straw, it has two, the upper one 

 being made to revolve on an iron pivot. When the honey- 

 glasses or supers are filled, instead of sliding in the zinc to 

 shut out the bees the upper cover is turned round, and 

 the bees are effectually prevented from gaining access to 

 the supers ; but this point is gained with much less expense 

 and trouble by using the zinc slides. Mr. Bevan Fox 

 several years since made a slight modification upon the 

 above, which was made public in the pages of the Gardener's 

 Chronicle. The openings through the cover to the supers 

 are usually made round, but Mr. Fox pointed out the great 

 advantage of having them cone-shaped (^.^., one end being 

 sharply-pointed), so that when the zinc slides are pushed 

 in to exclude the bees before removing the honey-glasses 

 the bees are gradually urged out of the way. If it be done 

 slowly by winch the risk of crushing or destroying the bees, 

 is reduced to a minimum. 



The hives are certainly very reasonable in price, and, 

 best of all, they can 'easily be manufactured by anyone pos- 

 sessing a little ingenuity. 



