STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



If the legs are creosoted or limed, or lime or waste from electric 

 batteries is put on the ground where they stand, they last a long 

 time. Battery waste will also kill the grass and weeds. 



HIVES. 



Any of the hives commonly offered by the manufacturers of bee- 

 keepers supplies will do, but the more simple they are and the fewer 

 the loose parts, the more satisfactory they will prove in the long run. 

 Perhaps the most universal hive now in use is called the "Dove- 

 tailed" hivo, named from the manner of its locked corners. (See 

 Figure 2.) The hives known by this name all take the Langstroth 

 frame, which measures 17f by 9|- inches outside measure. 



Fig. 2. — Dovetailed Hive. 



These hives are commonly furnished in two widths called the 

 eight-frame and the ten-frame. The former has had a great vogue 

 but is now rapidly being discarded for the ten-frame size, and the 

 beginner should be sure to get the latter. The keeper of a few 

 colonies -i^'ho contemplates increasing should by all means change to 

 the larger size. 



The hives having double walls with confined air spaces between 

 or filled with chaff or sawdust are good, but they cost more, are 

 unwieldy, and in many ways less desirable. They are supposed to 

 keep the bees warm in winter and make safer wintering, but as the 

 temperature within the hive and outside of the cluster of bees in 

 winter is practically the same as out of doors, the advantage is im- 



