166 



THE BEE-HIVKS. 



more readily, and rot less. If the bottom is nailed on the 

 cross-blocks, it will not be in danger ol warping. 



Our Swiss friends make the bottom-board with the grain 

 running from side to side. They say that in this way 

 they can make it fit exactly in the lower rabbet of the hive, 

 without swelling or shrinking. They also make the apron, 

 with hinges fastened on the bottom-board, and in snowy or 

 cold weather, they raise it and lean it against the hive, to 

 protect the entrance. 



344. The adjustable bottom board is convenient in many 

 instances. If in taking the bees from a winter repository, 

 It is found wet and mouldj^ you can at once exchange it for 

 a dry one, and wipe the wet board at leisure. Or, if a 

 comb breaks down in Summer, by weight and heat, the 

 hive can be lifted off its bottom, and placed on a clean 

 stand, so that the leaking honey and broken combs can be 

 instantly removed, and robbing or daubing of bees avoided. 

 Moreover, the bottom-board is the first part of the hive to 

 decay, and a hive-body and cover will usually outlast two 

 bottom-boards. The movable bottom allowing the raising 

 of the hive for ventilation, in extremely hot weather, en- 

 ables us also to discard the back ventilator, of the old hive 

 (fig. 63.) 



345. The body of the hive is made double on the back, 

 which should always be the North side of the hive. (567. ) 

 This, with the division-board inside, on the West, shelters 



the colony more efficiently than a 

 single board against the cold North- 

 West winds of Winter. If the bees 

 are to be wintered indoors, the 

 double back may be dispensed with. 

 A more simple form of body, setting 

 flat on the bottom, as in fig. 70, can 

 also be made. 



1 K, 



5 



lit 



H 



D 



o 



Fig. 71. 



The rabbet in which the frames hang, is made with a 



