H 
071 Ratio7ial Bee-Keeping, 
CHAPTER IV. 
ON VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF HIVES. 
If we were to attempt to describe every system 
of hive, we should have to compile a whole 
volume on the subject ; and this, it should be 
understood, neither time nor the compass of our 
Manual allows. 
Nevertheless, as we were reproached for 
having, on a former occasion, ignored the dif- 
ferent systems which exist in France, Germany, 
and elsewhere, and for dealing solely with our 
own, we think it right to supply this deficiency, 
if such deficiency there has been. 
Bees prosper in every kind of hive : the 
fissure of a rock well exposed to the sun, a 
hollow tree, a hole in a wall, a space between 
a window and closed shutters, etc., suffices for 
the construction of their combs, for breeding 
