28 BEE-KEEPING FOR PROFIT 
who fail to find the entrance and rush 
frantically along the top of the porch in their 
efforts to do so. The brood chamber usually 
has two single and two double walls: on the 
inner, which are lower than the outer, rest the 
ends of the bar frames that contain the combs 
or brood foundation. It is here that the brood 
is reared and the natural life and work of the 
hive proceeds. 
Bar Frames.—The bar frame is used as 
a case or support to hold the honeycombs. 
Without them it would be impossible to lift the 
combs from the hive and replace them in their 
proper position. It is these frames that enable 
the modern bee-keeper to do so much more 
than was possible with the old skep, and it has 
been by their aid that so much has been learned 
of the home-life of the bee. 
Standard Frames.—Frames vary in size in 
different countries, but the standard frame now 
in general use in Great Britain is 8} inches 
high, 14 inches wide, with a top bar 17 inches 
in length. The 1} inches at each end rest on the 
top of the inner walls of the hive. The frames are 
spaced the proper distance apart by metal ends 
of uniform size. ‘There are many varieties of 
these ‘‘ self-spacers,’’ but those most generally 
in use in England were the invention of a past- 
