134 AUSTRALASIAN 



a few bee-keepers in America who have adopted an eight- 

 frame Langstroth, but I feel safe in saying that the brood 

 chamber of such a hive would be too small for the climate of 

 any of the Australasian colonies. 



The inside of the hive is 14 J inches wide, which allows each 

 of the ten frames to be three-eighths of an inch apart — the 

 right distance. They may be spaced very quickly by standing 

 on one side of the hive and moving the farthest frame along the 

 rabbets with a forefinger and thumb at each end, till your fingers 

 touch the side of the hive. Now move the next till your 

 fingers touch the first frame, and so on with the whole of them ; 

 after a little practice a person can become quite expert at it. 



When working for extracted honey the same kind of frames 

 are used in the super as in the lower hive, but for comb-honey 

 the broad frames and sections are used in the super, seven of 

 which, when placed close together as already explained, nearly 

 fill the body, just leaving sufficient space for moving the first 

 one on the rabbets a little to facilitate its removal. Cases, or 

 racks as they are sometimes termed, for holding the sections 

 on the hive instead of frames, are often used. I shall have 

 more to say concerning these in another place. 



MATS FOR COVERING FRAMES. 



Mats answer two purposes — for keeping the bees below the 

 tops of the frames, and preventing a chilling draught through 

 the hive. No perfectly satisfactory material has yet been 

 introduced that will answer the purpose of a good mat that 

 the bees will not gnaw holes in after a time or propolize fast 

 to the frames. No material should be used that is not porous 

 or that will not absorb the moisture given off by the bees. I 

 have used different kinds of mats, but the cheapest, and I be- 

 lieve the best I have made, was from coarse packing stuff to 

 be obtained at most general merchants. I have had some of 

 these mats in use for the last three years without being gnawed 

 through. I cut them a trifle larger than the space above the 

 frames and leave them with the raw edges. 



SECTION BOXES. 



There is no way in which comb-honey can be raised equal 

 to the section box system. Not many years ago comb-honey 



