GLASS HIVES. 
59 
in wet weather ; these want to open and shut without 
rubbing or sticking, otherwise we disturb the bees 
every time a door is stirred. Putty should not be used 
to hold the glass, as the bees in the course of a few 
years will cover it with propolis ; it is then neces 
sary to take it out, and scrape, clean, and return it, 
when, if fastened with putty, it would be difficult ; 
cold weather is the time for this operation. I am aware 
that a hive can be more substantially made than the 
one here described; but I have endeavored to make 
one as cheap as possible, and if properly made, will 
answer. The cost will be much less than many pa- 
tents, and the satisfaction much more, at least, with 
many. When our hive contains a swarm of bees, and 
they are thoroughly in operation, we must not let 
them pass out at the bottom on every side, as they 
are frequently allowed to do from other hives ; be- 
cause, should one come out a little excited in conse- 
quence of a slight jar, accidentally given the hive, on 
opening the door or some other way, and should find our 
face within a foot of their house, peering in the window 
among their works, it would be very likely to give us 
a gentle hint that it was a mark of low breeding, that 
we were not wanted there at all, and that it was none 
of our business what they were doing. To prevent 
this as far as possible, a bottom-board, somewhat dif- 
ferent from the common one, is needed. Four posts 
of chestnut or other lasting wood, about two inches 
square, are driven into the earth in the form of a 
square, far enough apart to come under the corners of 
the bottom-board, (fifteen inches,) and high enough for 
