FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 85 



the frames drop down in the hive — a nuisance not to be 

 tolerated. I do not have that trouble, although the hold 

 of the top-bar on the tin support is so slight that if the 

 work were not exact I can easily imagine the frames 

 dropping down. Possibly those who complain do not 

 have very exact work. I am not sure but I would put up 

 with a little dropping down of frames, rather than to 

 have the ends of the top-bars glued. 



It will be seen that while the frames are automat- 

 ically spaced very firmly, the points of contact are so 

 small that the frames are always easily movable. Those 

 points of contact are the thin metal edges upon which the 

 lop-bars rest, the two end-staples, and the four nail- 

 heads. The same spacing is in use in other frames, only 

 staples are used for side-spacing instead of nails. The 

 staples do not seem quite so substantial, and there is 



Fig. 27. — Weed Brushes. 



more danger, when the frames are crowded hard to- 

 gether, that the staples may be driven in deeper, or that 



