140 A Modern Bee- Farm 



place without any fastening whatever as shown in the 

 illustration ; hence I am occasionally amused by corre- 

 spondents asking if hooks and eyes or hinges ought not 

 to be used ? Certainly not, unless you wish to go back- 

 wards over the same experimental ground that I have 

 traversed, before finding the most practical method of 

 securing the back. In addition to the above, the sides 

 are made to " bind " inwards at the back, while the shape 

 of Simmins' cover also aids in securing the top more 

 firmly. In opening, the sides are slightly pressed away 

 while at the same time the back is lifted up and outwards. 



In Painting 



it is quite necessary to give at least two coats of paint 

 along the angle formed at each side by the rabbet ; also 

 up under (inside) the floor rim, and fully one inch up 

 under the lower edge of the cover ; otherwise wet is sure 

 to soak up, and ultimately destroy the wood. 



A COnnERCIAL STANDARD FRAHE. 



I must state without hesitation that the Standard frame 

 of the British Beekeepers' Association is much too small 

 for any bee-keeper ' who is attempting to produce honey 

 on a wholesale scale. It is true I have been using the 

 Association Standard frame largely for some years past, 

 and expect to continue to do so as long as I supply bees 

 to those who have adopted that size ; but its use has only 

 the more forcibly brought to my mind the decidedly 

 superior advantages enjoyed when using a frame measuring 

 i6 inches by lo inches. Reference to the pages of the 

 British Bee Journal will show that there were not a few 

 who held out for a brood or stock frame of the above 

 dimensions at the time the Association decided on the 

 miserably small stock frame now almost universally used 



