44 BEE-FJRMING. 



so as to keep the straw of an even thickness in the plaits is 

 more convenient and useful ; the tin should be a little wider 

 \t one end than the other. 



At first great care must be taken in preparing the first 

 round or plait to make it very firm and strong, because on 

 this depends in a great degree the quality of the hive, and all 

 the weight rests upon this. If this is performed satisfactorily 

 the greatest difficulty is overcome, and the remainder is 

 comparatively easy work. 



Much may be learned by first taking in pieces an old 

 hive, and observing the fastenings of the cane as well as the 

 mode of its working. 



The hive entrance is cutout after the hive is completed. 



HIVE BONNETS. 



We have seen many different kinds of covers for bee- 

 hives in various parts of England, such ag cracked washing- 

 mugs, potato boxes, guano and other kinds of bags and 

 sacks, old buckets, often with a stave missing; tins of all 

 shapes and sizes, as hand-boards, galvanised iron buckets, 

 especially when they have become so leaky as to be worth- 

 less for any other purpose; slates, and I have even seen a 

 two-gallon ale bottle, minus the mouth and handle. It 

 would be impossible for us to enumerate all the covers we 

 have seen in cottage gardens over hives, which are placed 

 singly, each on a separate pedestal or stand, undoubtedly the 

 best method of placing bees. Well-to-do farmers, when 

 bees are kept for the sake of profit, have, as a rule, bee- 

 benches of wood, sometimes ornamentally built by the 

 village carpenter; and we have seen them with the sides 

 built of bricks, with a slated roof: these cannot be too 

 strongly condemned ; but we have been grieved to see in 

 hundreds of cases no covering at all placed over the skeps. 



