MOVABLE-FRAME HIVES. 178 
dark colors should be used, as “they absorb the sun’s heat, 
nor should all the hives be of the same tint (503). If the 
joints are painted when they are put together, they will last 
much longer. Every old Apiarist well knows that the joints 
are the first to decay. 
357. Each hive, in an Apiary, should bear a number, on 
the back of the brood apartment; and this should be printed 
in black characters, large enough to be seen at a distance 
In small Apiaries bee-keepers use a slate, on each hive; but 
in large ones, where many operations are performed, it is 
better to keep arecord of the condition of the colonies, 
and of all the operations, in a special book. 
We will add, that a hive which does not furnish a thor- 
ough control over every comb cannot allow of the manipu- 
lations which the bee-keeper’s necessities demand. Of such 
hives, the best are those which best unite cheapness and 
simplicity, with protection in Winter, and ready access to the 
spare honey-boxes. 
358. In closing this chapter on hives, we cannot refrain 
from advising the beginners in bee-culture to be very cau- 
tious in buying patent hives. More than eight hundred 
patents on bee-hives and implements have been issued in 
the United States since January, 1873. Not ten of these 
have proved to be of any use to bee-keepers. The mention 
of this fact will suffice to show the small value of these 790 
patents, and the loss incurred by those who have bought 
them, before they were able to judge of their merits. 
MatTERIALS FOR BEE-HIVES. 
359. The variety of opinions respecting the best mate- 
rials for hives, has been almost as great as on the subject 
of their proper size and shape. Columella* and Virgil rec- 
* Columella, about the middle of the first century of the Christian Era, 
wrote twelve books on husbandry—‘ ‘De re rustica.’ 
