HIVES FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 113 
section rack, in which the sections are securely held 
by an iron thumbscrew. If inversion be the practice, 
the rack is rotated independently of the bee-space 
ring. Should the bee-keeper find inversion of no 
assistance in securing well-finished sections, he may 
nail one of the spacing-frames on each of his racks, 
when the latter assume a well-known form, and he 
proceeds “ as of yore.” 
The roof (r) is a very old acquaintance, but one 
to which has been ascribed the virtue of not blowing 
off. The reason is quite apparent. When a current 
strikes the hive side, the air is reflected upwards 
from the roof, and, by the law of reaction, the roof 
is held down. I have seen these covers stand in a 
gale of wind without moving, but it is wisest to load 
them, since gusts shooting upwards may cause their 
displacement, and work mischief. For this purpose, 
one or two bricks may be battened in beneath the 
top square of wood. 
The most strikingly novel plan about this hive is 
that which distances the frames, and keeps the queen 
in her proper quarters, at one and the same time. Mr. 
Howard turns up zinc strips (as at B, Fig. 38), making 
each the length of the top bar, the width of the de- 
sired interspace, and with perpendicular sides of fin. 
The ends are plugged with wood blocks {wb^ B, Fig. 
38) as far as the inner wall of the hive, and the upper 
sides are perforated with holes lin, long and queen- 
excluder width. The frames are now brought into 
position, as at C, with one of these queen-excluder 
strips between each ; a honey-board (offering but very 
little impediment to the bees) and a distance-keeper 
VOL. II. I 
