Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/176

172 are two small rods which, on the top being brought close down on the body b, serve, by being fastened together, to keep the former steadily in its place. This hive possesses no superiority over the common storied ones, of which it is a modification; and the plan of retaining the same combs in the body of the hive for a series of years, must prove decidedly injurious to the prosperity of the colony. Of the straw hives here described, we give a decided preference to that of Wildman, both in respect to material and construction, maintaining, as it does, a constant equability of temperature, and enabling the operator to practise the mode of partial deprivation, which will be afterwards described. We think, however, the dimensions may be enlarged with advantage, and would recommend the diameter to be 12 inches instead of 10, and the height of each story to be 7½ inches instead of 7. This will bring the hive, when consisting of two stories, to the capacity of a solid foot. It will be of advantage, also, to have the upper and lower bands of each story worked double, the one exterior to the other, as represented in Plate X., fig. 3. This will contribute greatly to the steadiness of the hive, and afford the means of connecting the stories firmly together by pack-thread or wooden pins. Bee-Boxes.—The respective merits of straw-hives and bee-boxes have often been made the subject of discussion. Certainly those of straw have a decided superiority over those of wood, in respect to their capability of maintaining an equable temperature,