THE STORIFYING HIVE OF RICOTJR. 249 



pass without fear from one half to the other, when the popu- 

 lation becomes superabundant. When they are divided, each 

 half forms exactly an individual hive *. 



THE STORIFYING HIVE OF MR. RICOTJR. 



Mr. Ricour, who was chief gardener to baron Poederle at 

 Brussels, was so obliging as to transmit to us the following 

 description of his hive : " My new hive," he says, ''is very 

 simple, and possesses considerable advantages, as the wax 

 and the honey can be obtained without destroying the bees. 

 During several years, I made use of the wooden storifying 

 hive of Mr. de Massac, but always without success. I there- 

 fore invented that, of which I now send you the description, 

 which after several years of trial has fully answered my ex- 

 pectations. My hive is composed of two stories, made of 

 straw like the common hives, covering the upper story with 

 a board, with a heavy stone upon it, for the purpose of keep- 

 ing the hive firm and steady. Each of the stories is twelve 

 inches in diameter, by ten inches in height, the whole of 

 which is therefore twenty inches. 



In the month of May, 1838, I placed a first swarm in one 

 story, and in the month of April, 1839, I placed a story 

 upon it. The hive yielded me two good swarms, and I took 

 away one of the stories, well filled with honey and wax. I 

 have great reason to hope that my newly invented hive will 

 yield me every year a story full of honey, independently of 

 the swarms. 



Mr. Ricour states that he never makes use of wire for the 

 purpose of effecting the separation of the two stories, and 

 that it is a matter of indifference from which of the two 

 stories the honey and wax are taken. 



* This is the hive so -warmly recommended hy Bonner, and Gelieu de- 

 manded of the minister, Cardinal de Fleury, a patent for establishing it in 

 France. See the letter of Reaumur inserted in the Memoirs of the Society 

 of Agriculture of Brittany, 1759, 1760. The hive of White is almost similar 

 to that of Gelieu. 



M 



