Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/175

Rh from working in the spaces between the bars, and thus presenting an obstacle to their easy removal, he spreads over them a piece of gauze or net-work, satisfied that the bees will not construct their edifices on so flimsy a foundation. Over the net-work he places a flat round board, divided into several sections, each of which is moveable on hinges, and may be opened in one or more divisions, as it maybe desired to remove one or more combs. In this circular cover are several air-holes, closed with tin gratings, to allow the heated air to escape. Lombard's Hive.—The only other straw-hive worthy of notice, known to us, is that of M. Lombard of Paris, the friend and correspondent of Huber, and author of a work on bees, which that distinguished naturalist highly commends. This hive is in some degree a storied one, and differs from others of that kind only in having its upper story less than half the capacity of the lower or body of the hive; and that, at the honey-harvest, the contents only of the former, which its inventor calls the Couvercle or Cap, are appropriated by the cultivator, while those of the latter continue from year to year the exclusive property of the bees themselves. Plate X., fig. 6, copied and reduced from Lombard's Work, gives a sketch of this hive, where a is the cap, surmounted by a pointed piece of wood, designed for the firmer fixing of the straw covering; b is the body of the hive, having a thin square piece of deal fixed at the top as the foundation of the combs, leaving open spaces at each side for the passage of the bees; c, c,