44 



MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 



spaces filled wltli chaff, ground cork, or similar material, or else outer 

 cases should be provided giving space between the latter and the hive 

 proper for dry packing. As the bees always try to glue the frames 

 fast by means of propolis, it is better to make them rest on strips of tin, 

 galvanized iron, or band iron. The rabbet should therefore be made 

 eleven- sixteenths inch deep, and the strip of iron or other metal frame 

 rest nailed on so that its edge will project upward five- sixteenths inch 

 from the bottom of the rabbet. Folded strips of tin as made by manu- 

 facturers of apiarian imi)lements are preferable to single strii^s nailed 

 on, since they facilitate the sliding of frames and do not cut the top bars 

 where the latter rest upon them (fig. 28). The projecting ends of 

 the top bars being one-fourth inch thick, the bars themselves come 

 within one-eighth inch of the upper edge of the hive. It is essential 

 that the distance between the ends of the frames and the hive should 

 not exceed three-eighths inch, lest in time of plenty the bees should 

 build comb there; nor can less than one-fourth inch space be allowed, 

 for if the bees can not readily pass around the ends of frames of the 

 Langstroth type they will glue the frames to the side walls of the hive, 



making it very difficult, if not 

 imi^ossible, to remove them 

 without breakage. If, as sug- 

 gested, the frames are made 

 one-fourth inch shorter at the 

 bottom than at the top, that 

 is, 17f inches at bottom and 

 17f inches at top, the hive 

 should then be 18^ inches in- 

 side from front to rear, the 



Fig. 28.— Section of improved tin frame-rest: J., folded 

 edpe on wliich frame rests; B and D, nails. (From 

 Gleanings.) 



frames running in this direction. If the frames are accurately made 

 there will then be one-fourth inch space at each end of the frame just 

 below the top bar and three-eighths inch at each end of the bottom 

 bar. Between the frames and the bottom board, on which the hive 

 rests, one-half inch space answers, but five-eighths inch is preferable. 

 The width of the hive will depend, of course, upon the number of frames 

 decided upon. If inches being allowed for each frame, and three-eighths 

 inch added for the extra space at the side. If a top story to contain 

 frames for extracting is placed over the brood chamber, its depth is to 

 be such as to leave the space between the two sets of combs not over 

 five-sixteenths inch, and in this, as in the lower story, the space between 

 the ends of the frames and the hive wall should be no more than three- 

 eighths inch. A good way to keep rain from beating in between the 

 stories and also to retain the warmth of the bees in outdoor wintering, 

 yet admit of suitable provision for the upward escape of moisture, is 

 to have the second story fit over the top of the lower one, and rest on 

 ledges made by nailing strips around the latter one-half inch below the 

 upper edge. As this makes the upper story nearly 2 inches larger from 

 front to rear than the lower one, it will be necessary when arranging 



