52-1 
BEE-KEEPING. 
two of bees does not seem complete. AVe 
have seen cottagers produce their hives at 
Horticultural Shows, equal to any produce in 
quality and weight, with nothing but the com- 
mon straw-hive ; and from this up to the most 
costly bee-houses of mahogany and glass, there 
are things of all prices, of all forms, and pretty 
nearly all materials. Simplicity, however, is 
our motto in all things ; and when we see, up 
to the present moment, at Horticultural Shows, 
the finest specimens in the world, of honey, in 
not only common straw hives, but also in 
hand-glasses, in wooden boxes, turned wrong 
way upwards, — in short, in almost every 
awkward contrivance that can be imagined, 
where poverty reigns, we do not look very 
fayourably upon the costly hives and intricate 
methods pointed out by many writers. Bee- 
keeping, of old, was as common to the cottager 
and labourer who had a garden as the keep- 
ing of domestic poultry. It was as much part 
of the instruction of the children as talking, 
and came to them as naturally by example. 
No mystery was made of taking a swarm, 
hiving it in the best kind of hive that could be 
got at, and placing it in some sheltered situa- 
tion ; and among scores of plans for bee- 
houses, or hives, and volumes of instruction, 
all well calculated to amuse the bee-keeper, 
none appear better calculated for business 
than the old straw-hive, or the common inverted 
square box, with a hole on the top for a cap- 
ping-hive, to be taken as often as it is filled. 
Taylor's Bee-keeper's Manual gives us a 
very good idea of the various contrivances ; 
but the first two contrivances are the best, 
according to our notions, and the farther we 
go from the original simplicity the more diffi- 
cult the management. The author says, when 
introducing the different kinds of hives : — " In 
their wild state, bees find a secure residence 
in the decayed trunks of the thick forest trees. 
Where they are domesticated, the kinds and 
shapes, as well as the materials of bee-hives, 
vary according to climate and locality, or the 
purse of the proprietor. The fact is, that 
bees will adapt their works with wonderful 
sagacity to the form of their dwelling ; but 
G(#ieu says they collect more honey in a 
shallow vessel than in a very deep one. 
''• The hives in most common use in this 
country are made of straw, of a bell shape, but 
without any provision for enlargement or ven- 
tilation. At the end of the second or third 
year, they are usually placed over the brim- 
stone pit of destruction, and this closes the 
scene. Is it surprising that an unpleasant 
association is thus connected with the use of 
common hives ? Happily for the cause of 
humanity, modern experience has decided that 
this consequence .is not inevitable; and I trust 
1 shall hereafter point out the method by which 
it may be avoided in any hive, and make it 
appear to be greatly the interest of the pro- 
prietor never to kill a bee." 
He, like ourselves, appears to favour the 
most simple methods of keeping them; accord- 
ingly we have him describing the most simple 
first. 
"Straw Hives. — Whatever advantages 
other kinds of hives which we shall hereafter 
describe possess, those of straw, from their 
cheapness, must still continue to be in very 
general use, and it may be well therefore to 
point out the most eligible mode of construct- 
ing them. They are best made of unthreshed 
rye straw, and may be twelve to thirteen 
inches wide at the top, and nine inches deep 
withinside. It is an improvement to make 
them rather thicker than is customary ; and 
where caps or glasses are to be used, the hive 
should be rather flatter on the top than is 
usual. In the use of straw hives it is com- 
mon to put sticks across the interior, from a 
supposed necessity of a support to the combs. 
But the sticks are only an annoyance to the 
bees ; and there is little fear of the combs 
falling, except in very deep hives ; at any rate 
it may be prevented by contracting a little to 
the lower part. The best way of doing this 
is by working a wooden hoop inside the bottom 
band of the hive, as recommended by Dr. 
Bevan, who says, ' it should be perforated 
through its whole course, and the perforations 
made in an oblique direction, so distant from 
each other as to cause all the stitches of the 
hive to range in a uniform manner.' The 
hoop gives greater stability to the hive, pre- 
serves the lower edge from decay, and affords 
facility in moving it. I advise a circular 
piece of wood, (turned with a groove at the 
edge, to retain it in its place,) to be worked 
into the crown, having through it an inch 
and a half hole. With a little ingenuity, 
the bees may be fed through this opening, — a 
better method than the ordinary one at the 
bottom of a hive. A piece of wood or tin 
will commonly cover the hole ; but at times it 
may be used for the purpose of ventilation, 
and allowing escape to the impure air of the 
hive. In this case a bit of perforated tin or 
zinc should be placed over it, which, when 
stopped up by the bees, can be replaced by a 
clean one. An earthen pan is a common 
cover to a straw hive, and this may be slightly 
raised by wedges on the four sides, to permit 
a small space underneath. Of whatever ma- 
terial the outer covering consists, it must pro- 
ject so far on all sides as to protect the hive 
from the least moisture. This cannot be too 
much guarded against ; and, whether of wood 
or straw, all hives ought to be well painted at 
the beginning, and periodically afterwards ; 
'for,' says Mr. Payne. ' hives managed on the 
