MOVABLE-COMB HIVE. 
23 
For more than half a century, hives have heen in use 
containing onlv one comb inclosed on both sides by glass. 
These hives are darkened by shutters, and when opened 
the queen is as much exposed to observation as the other 
bees. I have discovered that, with proper precautions, 
colonies can be made to work in observing-hives exposed 
continually to the full light of day ; so that observations 
may be made at all times, without interrupting by any 
sudden admission of light the ordinary operations of the 
bees. In such hives, many intelligent persons from vari- 
ous States in the Union have seen the queen-bee deposit- 
ing her eggs in the cells, while surrounded by an affection- 
ate circle of her devoted children. They have also wit- 
nessed with astonishment and delight, all the mysterious 
steps in the process of raising queens from eggs, which 
with the ordinary development would have produced 
only the common bees. Often for more than three 
months, there has not been a day in my Apiary in which 
some colonies were not engaged in rearing new queens to 
supply the place of those taken from them ; and I have 
had the pleasure of exhibiting these facts to bee-keepers 
who never before felt willing to credit them. 
As all my hives are made so that each comb can bo 
taken out and examined at pleasure, those who use them 
can obtain all the information which they need without 
taking anything upon trust. May I be permitted to ex- 
press the hope, that the time is now at hand when the 
number of practical observers will be so multiplied, and 
the principles of bee-keeping so thoroughly understood, 
that ignorant and designing men will not be able to im- 
pose their conceits and falsehoods upon the public, by 
depreciating the discoveries of those who have devoted 
years of observation to the advancement of Apiarian 
knowledge ! 
