74 
EKE-CUT, TURK. 
BEST BOX IIIVE. 
No difference what kind of wood is used so it is dry and 
not inclined to warp ; inch board is a good thickness. Use 
two boards fourteen inches square for the sides, the rear 
hoard twelve by fourteen, the front twelve by thirteen and 
three-fourths (this being a fourth inch short at the lower end 
will make an entrance for the bees). Make the top board 
fourteen and one-half by fourteen and one-half; make the side 
boards stand on their ends; bore an inch hole in the middle 
of the front — it might have a button to cover it when need- 
ed. It seems to be an advantage to have combs built nearly 
straight and of a uniform thickness. 'JSiis can be secured by 
using eight triangular strips twelve inches long, the sides 
each one inch ; nail these to the under surface of the lid 
where the bees are to start the combs ; place them at equal 
distances from each other and parallel with the sides of the 
hive. These strips aro best to be rough as they came from 
the saw, as bees prefer a rough surface to fasten their combs 
to ; they also like a sharp edge to start from ; so that with this 
arrangement eight combs are almost invariably Started from 
front to rear — each one a suitable thickness for brood when 
needed to be used for that purpose. Persons who never tried 
to guide bees in this way to build their combs straight, are 
apt to say : “ Bees will build their combs just as they please ;” 
so they will, and just as the keeper pleases, too, if he under- 
stands guiding them : as a horse turned loose in a stable with 
hay in the rack, it is always quite certain at which end of the 
stall his head will be. The man who was in the habit of placing 
candy jars and glass tumblers on top of his hive to be filled with 
honey, instructing his bees to that effect by writing on the 
outside of the glass, was always understood best when a small 
piece of comb as a sample was stuck where he wanted them 
to commence (bees dislike to commenco on glass as it is too 
cold and smooth). But to return to the hive. It is now all 
the bees want for their accommodation ; but the keeper wants 
the surplus honey and the swarms — how will he best get 
them '! The brood is reared in the middle or lower part of 
the main chamber of the hive ; the bee-bread is placed around 
the brood ; the honey is placed outside of that in the sides, 
but mainly in the top of the hive away from the entrance and 
the light. So, if holes arc made in the lid to let bees pass up 
