CHAPTER III 
HIVES AND APPLIANCES 
PROBABLY the earliest hive of which we in this 
country have any record is the old straw skep, and 
even now this hive is in extensive use, especially 
in remote country districts. As a home for bees 
it answers its purpose admirably, but as a means to 
up-to-date honey production it is utterly useless, 
mainly on account of its fixed combs, which make 
it impossible for any manipulations to be carried 
out. Now the proper manipulation of the bees 
and combs is absolutely necessary if the best 
results are to be obtained, and such work can only 
be carried out by keeping the bees in modern 
hives. 
It must be clearly pointed out, however, that 
many people have modern hives and get no better 
results than they would have done with skeps, in 
fact they would have been pounds in pocket had 
they adhered to that primitive method of hive 
architecture. That, of course, is their own fault. 
The simple fact that the bees are in frame hives 
will not of necessity make the bees produce more 
honey, in the case of an ignorant or negligent 
owner, for with such an owner they would do 
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