24 BEE-CULTURE. 
which becomes necessary, discourages the Bees. 5. In this way the 
Bee-keeper is not-remunerated for his trouble. 6. The Bees are greatly 
enraged, and their keeper greatly annoyed whenever honey is obtained. 
_ 7. Ifno other mode of culture should be adopted cur Bees would become 
extinct. Each of these points is capable of a very lucid and satisfactory 
demonstration, but it is not consistent with the design of this manual 
to go into the rationale of every particular which is stated. I give 
resulis which have been put to the test of experiment, and may be 
so tested again. No individual of large experience and thorough 
knowledge of Bee-culture will adopt or continue this method of .Bee 
management. 
CHAPTER VII. 
HIVES. 
Very few Bee-keepers have felt adequately the importance of con- 
structing a good hive. I refer at present not so much to the plan of 
construction as to the materials used and the workmanship which has 
been employed. ‘Too often any kind of box which would contain a 
hen and chickens (and perhaps very suitable for that purpose) has 
been used for a Bee-hive. In behalf of the Bees I utterly protest 
against allsuch “ fixings.” The idea that anything in which Bees will 
remain and labor will answer for a Bee-hive,,is utterly futile and ruin- 
ous in its bearing upon Bee-culture. A Bee-hive requires the best 
stock and the best workmanship which it is possible to obtain. It 
should be made for exposure to the weather so as to constitute hive 
and house. A Bee-house is to be entirely dispensed with, for reasons 
already assigned. It should be water-proof and air-tight. Every joint 
which communicates with the interior of the hive should be protected 
by tongue and groove or their equivalents. No chink or crack which 
allows the warmth of the hive or the animal heat of the Bees to escape 
is to be tolerated for a moment, unless we intend to give the Bee-moth 
possession of the interior by allowing it to deposit its eggs in these 
crevices, where they will hatch and multiply until they outnumber and 
destroy the Bees, as they often do. The joint which usually exists 
