282 



HIVE OF THORLEY. 



The slide or valve made in the upper part of the straw hive 

 is made of either brass or tin, and is about eleven inches long, 

 and four broad. The wooden slide, which closes the hexagonal 

 hive, is ten inches long, four inches broad, and nine thick. 



When the hive is on the point of swarming, one of these 

 slides is withdrawn to give a passage to the new swarm into 

 the upper hive, an advantage which the bees seize upon im- 

 mediately, instead of leaving the parent hive, which is most 

 generally the case. When it is perceived that the old bees 

 and the new swarm are tranquil in their hive, the communi- 

 cation is closed, by pushing forward the slider. 



At the bottom of every hive, a small opening must be 

 made of three inches long, and three lines broad, by which 

 the bees may enter their respective dwellings. 



This hive in all its properties and construction is nothing 

 more than the hive of Thorley, and therefore little or no 

 credit is due to Sir Charles Whitworth for his alleged inven- 

 tion. The annexed draw- 

 ing is an exact representa- 

 tion of the hive of Thor- 

 ley, which corresponds in 

 every particular with the 

 description which we have 

 given of Sir Charles' 

 hive. 



In regard to the hives 

 of Saul, Nutt, an d Bagster, 

 they are only to be regard- 

 ed in the light of toys, and 

 the making of which is 

 attended with so much 

 expense, as to render them 

 the mere objects of amuse- 

 ment to the affluent apia- 

 rian. The hive of Nutt with its thermometer may amuse for 



