250 THE STORIFY1NG HIVE OF L'ABBE ELOI. 



In regard to the latter point, Mr. Ricour is evidently in 

 error, and to those who might be disposed to make use of 

 this hive, we cannot sufficiently offer our advice, to be 

 particularly careful not to take away that part of the story 

 which contains the brood. 



This hive of Ricour, although of extreme simplicity, is 

 after all nothing more than the common Cottage hive, or 

 the hive of Jean de La Caille, or the Count de la Bourdon- 

 naye. Nevertheless, it is probable, that Mr. Ricour may 

 not have possessed any knowledge of the merits of the above 

 mentioned hives; and it must be acknowledged that his 

 hive possesses with them the great disadvantage, that it is 

 not secure from the depredations of the rats, mice, and other 

 vermin, and that, on account of its flat top, it is difficult to 

 protect it from the rain. 



THE ST0R1FYING HIVE OF l'aBBE ELOI. 



If Ricour were ignorant of the hive of Jean de la Caille, 

 or De La Bourdonnaye, it appears to us that it must have 

 been equally unknown to the Grand Vicar of Troyes. On a 

 strict examination of the two hives, that of the Abbe Eloi is 

 perhaps after all nothing more than an improvement of the 

 common storifying hive, inasmuch as it merely consists of 

 as many stories as the proprietor may be inclined to use. 

 The Abbe generally uses seven, each three or four inches in 

 height, and from twelve to thirteen inches in the clear. 

 Every story has its individual bottom of wood, pierced with 

 five large holes, about two inches in diameter, and with fifty 

 or sixty small ones, each of eight or ten lines. The hive is 

 surmounted by a board without any holes, with a stone or 

 a brick on the top. With the exception of the number of 

 the stories and the construction of their bases, the hives of 

 Ricour and l'Abbe Eloi very nearly assimilate in their 

 plans. 



