HOW TO KEEP BEES. 13 



These are special hives which must be made to order. The frames 

 are nearly five inches deeper than the standard Langstroth frame and 

 these frames also have to be made to order. The top bars and end 

 bars of the frames touch the whole length when the frames are in 

 place in the hive, so that the bees can only pass out at the bottom. 

 Beveled cleats are nailed along the lower inside corners of the hive 

 and against these the bottom corners of the frames touch, keeping 

 the bees from going behind the frames and virtually making a box 

 within a box. The tops of the frames are about an inch below the 

 top edge of the hive and Mr. Latham uses a few layers of newspapers 

 and a thin wooden cover on top of the frames. The cover proper 

 has a three-inch rim and fits down over the hive. Hive body and 

 cover are covered with heavy waterproof paper, black in color. The 

 entrance which is an inch high, is guarded by a row of fine wire nails 

 driven up through the floor. These are spaced far enough apart to 

 permit the bees to pass freely and yet prevent the ingress of mice. 



The bees and queen are started in the frames in the front end of the 

 hive-and are thereafter seldom disturbed unless external appearances 

 indicate something wrong inside. When the bees have the front or 

 brood compartment filled they spread through the excluder metal 

 into the space behind. The frames there have only "starters" of 

 comb foundation as guides for the bees. At the convenience of the 

 bee-keeper the honey in these frames is removed and the frames 

 retiirned . 



These hives are really the tools of a high class specialist, and while 

 they will often succeed in the hands of a novice, their continued and 

 uniform success on the minimum of labor plan calls for the knowledge 

 only to be gained by long and careful observation of bees and their 

 ways. 



FRAMES, SUPERS, ETC. 



Frames may be placed in two classes, free hanging and self spacing, 

 and the latter again into hanging and standing. Probably the most 

 extensively used and the best for the beginner are the self spacing 

 frames of the Hoffman type illustrated here. (Figs. 5 and 6.) 



