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from imperfect ventilation, the lower edge should be 
mouldy, it should be cut off ; or if some other part of 
the comb contains old and hard bee-bread, or candied 
honey, (which the bees cannot remove,) it would be a 
nuisance in the hive, and such parts, and no more, 
should be cut out. While making examinations of the 
combs, note the amount of bees each stock has, amount 
of brood, and if no brood, look for the queen, to ascer- 
tain whether or not the stock is queenless. Remove 
from the hive all that may be obstructive or offensive to 
the bees, and repair the hive if needed, and in this 
manner examine every stock of bees in your apiary. 
Any bee-keeper who will not consider this as too te- 
dious a job, will certainly be rewarded for the labor, 
with healthy stocks, and early, strong swarms. 
HOW TO SECURE STRAIGHT COMBS IN THE 
MIDDLE OF THE FRAMES. 
A movable comb hive is only a movable-cotnb hive 
when all the combs are built true within the frames, so 
that each comb can be removed without cutting or 
breaking or injuring the brood, and without crushing the 
bees. To obtain these results, many experiments were 
tried, and comb-guides designed ; among the earliest of 
which, probably, Kretchmer’s comb-foundation comb- 
guides can be counted, — who invented and used them in 
Germany, I think as early as I843. The device consisted 
