178 
HIVES. 
moil bee-box, as to capacity, cleanliness, and security 
against vermin, while, at the same time, it enables the 
cultivator to ascertain at all times the state of liis 
colony, nay, of every individual comb, the progress of 
the brood, the quantity of provision, the existence and 
number of royal cells, and the probable period of 
swarming. It affords every facility, too, for making 
artificial swarms, and for discovering the exact period 
when that operation may be attempted with a reason- 
able prospect of success. The greatest drawback is 
its expense,* which is such as as to preclude any but 
amateurs from having recourse to it. A figure of this 
hive, as used by Huber himself, is to be found in his 
“ Observations on Bees another of the same hive, 
as afterwards modified by him, has been given by 
M. Lombard, (Plate XI., fig. 3.) 
The leaf-hive consists of eight frames, each 18 
inches high,t English measure, and ten inches wide, 
inside, having the uprights and top cross pieces 1 1 
inch broad and one inch thick, so that the eight frames, 
when placed close together, constitute a hive, eigh- 
teen inches high, twelve inches between end and end, 
and ten inches between back and front, all inside 
measure. The frames are held together by a flat 
sliding bar on each side, secured by wedges and pins. 
To the first and eighth of these frames is attached a 
frame with glass, and covered with a shutter. The 
body of the hive is protected by a sloping roof, and 
* One Guinea is the usual price. 
•f Fourteen or fifteen inches at most would be a better size 
for the uprights. 
