30 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS' JOURNAL. 
elsewhere, and I shall endeavour to give satis- 
factory reasons for my preference of the first- 
mentioned. In both hives the honey chamber 
is over the brood room, as it has been proved 
that the bees prefer storing their honey above 
the brood, and at first sight it would appear 
that the principal difference between the two 
is that the Langstroth Hive is opened at the 
top and the frames lifted out, while the 
Berlepsch opens from the back and the frames 
drawn out, while the frames of the former 
are much broader but not so high as the 
latter. This may seem to many of very little 
consequence, but in my opinion it has an 
important influence on the working of the 
bees. Anyone who has found bees in their 
wild state in trees, &c., &c., will at once 
admit that they always select a place for their 
home which is much higher than wide, and 
there is no doubt that the nearer we can 
approach to their natural habits the more 
likely are our arrangements to be successful ; 
therefore, I contend that the high, narrow 
frame is more in accordance with their nature 
than the low, wide one. Further, it is 
observed that if we blow a little smoke on 
them they will always try to run upwards, 
even against the smoke, if it is not very strong, 
and therefore even if blown downwards at first 
many of them will soon begin to ascend again 
and collect in a corner where the smoke is 
not so heavy, and even fly about or settle 
on the outside of the hive, while as the 
smoke disappears, they will rush up 
between the combs and attack the dis- 
turber of their home ; then, too, as 
those that arc abroad are constantlyreturning 
they help to swell the number of angry occu- 
pants, and to complete the confusion. If a 
honey box has been taken off and put to one 
side, all the bees in it having filled themselves 
with honey and finding out soon that they are 
separated from their queen and home, will 
make their escape and fly off and join their 
excited comrades, so that before the operator 
has nearly concluded his observations and 
completed whatever operation he may have 
opened the hive for, there is such an excited 
crowd about him, that it is frequently almost 
impossible to proceed further, and quickly he 
has to shut the hive up. One of the apparent 
advantages of the Langstroth, seems that you 
can take out any particular frame you may 
wish, without interfering with the others, but 
this is not so advantageous as might appear at 
first sight; even suppose you want to see the 
queen you cannot tell which frame she may 
be on, as she is constantly moving from one 
frame to another, looking for empty cells 
wherein to deposit her eggs, and while you 
are taking out the one you think most likely, 
her Majesty, especially if she is strong ami 
active, will probably run off the comb and be 
lost to your sight amongst the crowd, and you 
may have to take out all the frames before 
you can find her ; then again in a strong 
colony, with combs full of honey and brood, 
the frames are more difficult to handle, and as 
the bees sometimes build their combs a little 
crooked leaving only the 3/16 of an inch 
space between them, it is almost impossible to 
take a frame out without running the risk of 
crushing some of the bees (perhaps the queen 
herself) or uncapping many of the cells full of 
honey or brood as the case may be ; then 
again you have to be careful in putting the 
frames back to place them the right distance 
apart, or a similar accident may occur, or you 
may place them too wide apart and then the 
bees will begin to make combs between them. 
Now in the Berlepsch hive, as I have already 
shown, the frames are made high and narrow 
in accordance with the nature of the bees, and 
if you want to see the queen and ascertain the 
state of the brood, or have any operation to 
perform, you can do either with less annoy- 
ance to the bees and more ease to yourself. 
First, if you want to have a look, to see 
if there is enough honey for taking 
away, you find out that by taking off 
the door and by looking through the glass 
division if the first comb is full, or 
nearly so, there is sure to be plenty of honey 
to spare. If you want to look in farther, take 
off the glass division and blow a little smoke 
at the bees, when they will all run inwards 
and upwards ; then take out the first frame, 
and if you wish to see the Queen, look care- 
fully over the outward side of the second 
frame ; if she is not there, examine both sides 
ot the first frame before putting it into the 
frame-holder. Then take out the second 
frame again, having a look first over the out- 
side of the next, and examine both sides of 
the one in your hands, and so on till you come 
to the last frame at the entrance, always 
using a little smoke, but not enough to stupefy 
the bees. The last comb I seldom take out, 
as there is rarely brood in it, but always 
plenty of pollen and some honey, and if you 
have not discovered the Queen by this time, 
leave her for the present and try another 
time, endeavouring to be quicker in taking 
out the frames. In putting the frames back 
push them close up to each other into their 
proper position. If the bees are at work in 
the honey room they will not be in the least 
disturbed while this is going on, and the bees 
that were driven buck by the smoke will go 
up there, while those returning home will do 
the same, and be out of your way till you 
have finished your operations. Again, for 
taking out combs from the brood room to 
extract, 1 consider my hive to be preferred, as 
