BEE MANUAL. 



Ill 



CHAPTER VI. 



HIVES, FRAMES, AND SECTION BOXES. 



Among all the aids to improved apiculture which have been 

 invented within the last thirty-five years, the movable comb- 

 hive stands first in importance. The most advanced improve- 

 ments in our system of working are traceable back to, and are 

 the result of, this invention. Although the honey-extractor 

 and comb-foundation are invaluable helps which no one can 

 now afford to dispense with, they could not be made use of 

 -without the movable comb-hive. Thirty-five years ago the 



Fig. 37.— MOVABLE COMB-HIVE. 



average bee-keeper knew little or nothing of the internal eco- 

 nomy of the hive, as compared with the degree of knowledge 

 which the merest tyro can now acquire before even commencing 

 to practise. Although Huber had shown, nearly a hundred 

 years ago, how to obtain control of the combs to a certain 

 .extent, and especially for purposes of observation, yet his 

 ' leaf or book-hive " was impracticable in the hands of an 



