38 STRAW HIVES. 



vent the crofs pieces from finking into the 

 In fide; and to hold the bars fteady, without 

 Hiding backward or forward, The vacan- 

 cies between the bars on the edge of the hive 

 are to be filled up with cow-dung, which, 

 when dry, will be fufficiently tenacious. 

 Care fhould be taken to make every part of 

 the top fmooth and level ; which if not fo, 

 reduce it by laying heavy weights thereon. 



Hive- makers in fome places have affected 

 coniiderable difficulty in making hives of 

 the form I have prefcribed, but without juft 

 grounds : the perfon employed by me, after 

 a little practice, could make them as expe- 

 ditioufly and eafy as thofe of the common 

 fort. 



His method was to make a common hive, 

 the circumference of whofe bottom was ex-? 

 actly to the dimenfions I defired ; on the 

 edge of this he worked a round and a half 

 of ft raw, bound on with a cord, and then 

 continued to proceed with brier binding, 

 having by him a ftraight flick, of the due 

 width, as a gauge, and to keep the work 

 truly perpendicular, or upright. If the hoop 

 I before mentioned is provided for the bot- 

 tom 



