Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/183

Rh the entrance is made through the thickness of the floor-board. We dislike the sliding bars, with their pins and wedges, which are so far inconvenient, that, in drawing them out, all the frames are liable to open, and the observer is exposed to some hazard of annoyance from the bees issuing out at every joint; and we have substituted for them hinges on the one side, and a hook and eye on each frame on the other; we can thus open any particular leaf without meddling with the rest. In taking honey from this hive, the bee-master has the whole interior completely under his eye and at his disposal, and can choose what combs best suit his purpose, both as to quantity and quality; taking care, however, to do so only at such periods as will leave the bees time to replenish the vacancy before the termination of the honey season. It is also well adapted for artificial swarming. By separating the hive into two halves, the honey, brood-combs, and bees will, generally speaking, be equally divided; and by supplying each half with four empty frames, we shall have two hives, one half empty, equal in number of bees, of brood, and even of stores. One of the new hives will possess the Queen; and if the operation has been performed at the proper time, that is to say, a week or ten days before the period of natural swarming, the probability is there will be royal brood coming forward in the other; at all events, there will be plenty of eggs and larvæ of the proper age for forming an artificial Queen.

Single-comb Hive.—The celebrated naturalist. Bonnet, suggested and recommended to Huber the