158 THE HONEY-BEE. 



jarring the frames is of great importance, better 

 means of keeping them in place had to be, and have 

 been, devised. 



Subsequently to his first introduction of the above- 

 described hive, Mr. Woodbury suggested that the 

 sides, back, and front should be made of straw, as 

 being a better non-conductor of heat, affording a 

 little ventilation, and absorbing the moisture of 

 respiration more readily than wood. We give a 

 figure on page 157 of this modification. 



Various improvements on the original of Mr. Wood- 

 bury's pattern have been made. Of these we will 

 mention first Mr. Cheshire's bar-frame hive, and we 

 had better, perhaps, describe it in his own words : — 

 " It consists of two main portions— the super-cover, 

 the upper half of what may be denominated the 

 body, and the hive proper, in the lower portion of 

 which breeding is carried on, and where the bees pass 

 the winter. In front of the lower part may be seen 

 the porch, with its roof consisting of a stout piece of 

 pine, about three inches wide, and running completely 

 along the hive-face. This is chamfered off towards 

 the end, the more effectually to carry away drip, and 

 has a channel near its front edge, which acts as a 

 gutter, by which the rain is conveyed to its ends. 

 This gutter is shown in the cross-section at E. The 

 bottom board of the hive projects 2\ inches along the 

 front, so as to form a very convenient alighting board. 

 Ten inches of the central part of this is grooved, 

 so that, should it be reached by driving rain, the 

 convex parts remain free of water, affording the bees 

 a dry passage to the interior. The flight-hole is ten 

 inches in length, and is formed by cutting from the 



