MOVABLE-FRAME HIVES. 173 



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 paiiitcul 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 a record 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. 



Materials fob 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- 



• Colnmella, atout the middle of the first century of the Christian Ero, 

 wrote twelve books on hushaadry — *'De reruittta." 



