94 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



substantial, and the one I use fulfills these requirements (Fig. 

 42). The principal board of the dummy is 16% x 8% x 5/16, 

 of pine. The other parts are of some tougher wood. The top- 

 bar is ISyg X 5/16 X 6/16. Each end cleat is 8% x 5/16. 



It will be seen that the dummy is neither so long nor deep 

 as a frame. That makes it easier to handle, and being at the 

 side of the hive it never makes any trouble. If I were making 

 new dummies, I think I would make the principal board 15 , 

 inches long instead of 16%. It would be easier to handle, and 

 bees are little inclined to fill in comb at the ends of the dummy. 

 While the cut-off top-bars in the frames work nicely, they do 

 not work so well in. dummies, as I found upon trying a number 

 of them. The principal objection to this dummy is that the 

 top-bar, being only 5/16 square, is sometimes broken off, or 

 pulled off, when the dummy is pried out of a hive where it is 

 glued in. Some of them are made over in a simple way that 

 is very satisfactory. The top-bar is entirely torn off, and for a 

 lug at each end is used a common tenpenny wire nail, which is 

 3 inches long and Vs inch thick. Lay the nail on top of the 

 dummy, with the point projecting as far as4t can and yet ad- 

 mit the dummy into the hive. The head of the nail will not al- 

 low it to lie down flat. All the better. Hammer on the head 

 till the nail does lie flat. Now take a piece of tin 3V2 to 4 

 inches long and wide enough to cover the part of the nail that 

 lies on the dummy, not including the head. Lay this tin on 

 top, bend down over each side, and near the lower end drive 

 through two light wire nails an inch long or longer, and clinch. 

 There's a feeling of solid comfort every time one opens a hive 

 containing such a dummy. 



HIVE-COTEES. 



At the risk of losing caste as a beekeeper, I am obliged to 

 confess that I never got up "a hive of my own," never even 

 tried to plan one, but I have tried no little to get up a hive- 

 cover to suit me. A hive is so seldom moved that I care less for 

 its weight, but when I, or more particularly, my female assist- 

 ants, have to lift covers all day long, when hot and tired, a 

 pound difference in weight is quite an item. The first covers I 

 had for movable-frame hives were 8 inches deep and weighed 



