BEES AND FRUIT GROWING 
106 
stuck or glued together in a way that will 
make them practically inseparable. For 
example, the bottoms of supers containing 
the sections must be 5/16 inch above the 
tops of the brood-frames in the lower part 
of the hive. It has come to be a gen¬ 
eral practice to put the bee-space in the 
bottom-board, leaving the bottoms of the 
frames in the brood-nest nearly flush with 
the bottom of the hive. This makes it 
necessary to have the sides and ends of the 
hive project above the general level of the 
frames about 5/16 inch. In the same way 
the supers have a bee-space on top but not 
on the bottom. If a super be removed, and 
a hive-cover be put in its place, there will 
still be a space between the cover and the 
brood-frames. 
There are a few who believe that the 
bee-space should always be under the 
frames or sections. This will necessarily 
require that the top of the hive or super 
lie even with the tops of the frames or 
sections, and that the covers have cleats 
on the outside edges a bee-space thick. 
Such a combination is objectionable, be¬ 
cause these cleats could not be made tight 
enough to keep out cold, and because there 
are many beekeepers who -like to use a flat 
board cover that may be used either side 
up. It is very much more satisfactory to 
have the bottom-board cleated in the man¬ 
ner stated than the cover. Even if the 
cleats are not tight, warm air would not 
escape at this point. Practically all the 
beekeeping world is united in favor of hav¬ 
ing a bee-space on top of the frames and 
sections rather that under, and probably 
99 per cent of all the hives in use are so 
built. Any beginner or other person who 
will attempt to devise a hive with a bee- 
space on the bottom will be making a great 
mistake. His stuff will not match other 
equipment; and if the time comes when he 
will have to sell he would have«to dispose of 
it at a considerable reduction in price, for 
the reason that the bees would have to be 
transferred into other hives that would fit 
appliances commonly in use. 
It is customary to make a space be¬ 
tween the bottoms of the frames and the 
bottom-board much greater than the space 
on top. Modern hives usually provide from 
7 /g to 1 inch of space under the frames to 
allow for plenty of ventilation during hot 
weather. Such a space should have an 
entrance % inch deep. This is none too 
large during the hottest part of the year. 
See Entrances to Hives. 
During the winter, whether in the cellar 
or outdoors, the extra space allows for an 
accumulation of dead bees under the 
frames. If the bee-space under the frames 
is only 5/16 it might soon clog up with 
dead bees, thus preventing ventilation, 
finally ending in the destruction of the 
colony. 
BEES. —See Races of Bees; also Ital¬ 
ian Bees. 
BEES AND SCHOOL TEACHING.— 
Beekeeping fits in well with school teaching, 
for the bees usually need but little atten¬ 
tion during the winter term of school. In 
the North even when the school is con¬ 
tinued until the first of June or a little 
later, the management of the bees can usu¬ 
ally be such that the attention necessary 
for them can be given on Saturdays when 
school is not in session. See Building Up 
Colonies. 
At the close of the school year, beekeep¬ 
ing furnishes for the tired teacher pleas¬ 
ant outdoor recreation, often better fitting 
him for the next year’s work than do other 
forms of vacation which yield no profit 
but consume much of his winter earnings. 
On the other hand, at the close of the bee¬ 
keeping season, teaching affords the bee¬ 
keeper an opportunity for thought and 
study in the many fields into which bee¬ 
keeping naturally leads the thoughtful bee¬ 
keeper. 
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWING.— Un¬ 
der Fruit Blossoms and also under Pol¬ 
len it has been shown that beekeeping is 
very intimately related to fruit-growing. 
The production of much of the fruit from 
many trees and shrubs is dependent on the 
pollen being carried by bees to the bloom 
from different individuals or varieties of 
the same species, and in most cases the 
quantity is increased and the quality of 
the fruit is improved by such cross-polli¬ 
nation. The two industries can, there¬ 
fore, be united with great advantage. 
Fruit-growers have learned to appreciate 
the valuable work performed by bees. As 
they became convinced that the services 
of these little friends were indispensable, 
