162 miner's AMERICAN 



follows : — Take any timber, about three or four inches 

 thick, say 3 by 3, 3 by 4, or 4 by 4, and cut off pieces 

 six feet long ; such timber generally being about twelve 

 feet Ibng, one strip makes two pieces. Then sink one 

 end in the ground, at least two feet, leaving the other 

 end four feet above the ground. Then nail a strip of an 

 inch board across the top of the post, as seen in the cut, 

 on the side of the post towards the hives, and even with 

 the top of it. Said cross-bar should be as small 

 as it can be, and be strong enough to support one-half 

 of a loaded hive, with a roof above, as will be shown. 

 It should be broader in the centre, and taper towards the 

 ends, as represented in the cut, in order to give greater 

 strength. The length of this cross-bar should be about 

 four inches longer than the width of two hives and the 

 post ; in order to allow the hives to stand off some two 

 inches from the post. When a post is thus set, and the 

 cross-bar adjusted, taking care to have the bar rest hori- 

 zontally, and also to have it face the exact direction that 

 the hive should front ; then you have only to set a cor- 

 responding post directly in the rear of the front one, 

 supposing that to be the one first set into the ground, 

 and place your cross-bar thereon, as before directed, and 

 your stand is complete. You have, however this calcu- 

 lation to make, viz ; the exact distance that the posts 

 should be set from each other, so that in sliding in the 

 hives, a close fit may be secured. Let us suppose that 

 our hives measure fourteen inches wide, then •allowing 

 two inches for the two bars, it follows that the posts 

 should be sixteen inches apart. As the foregoing cut 



