The singing masons build their roofs of gold,
And mingling multitudes perplex the view,
Yet all in order apt their tasks pursue;
Still happier they whose favoured ken hath seen
Pace slow and silent round, the state's fair queen."
THE STEWARTON, OR AYRSHIRE HIVE.
The Stewarton Hive is so often spoken of, and in such favourable terms, by bee-keepers, that we deem it necessary to give it a place here, and to supply some explanation of its construction and management. We consider this especially needful, as some of the principles of its management are so imperfectly understood, that frequent mistakes are made, and also because, for the convenience of bee-keepers, we keep a supply of these hives on hand.
The name is derived from their having been first manufactured at Stewarton, in Scotland; and they are still made so well, and at so moderate a price in that country, that London workmen are unable to compete in their manufacture. Our supply is therefore from that source; so that, with a little addition for carriage, the price approximates that of the makers themselves, affording a convenience to many of our apiarian friends in being able to obtain these hives in London.
Our engraving shows the four boxes set up. These constitute the hive. We will suppose that the young bee-keeper has just received the four octagonal boxes, with the bundles of grooved slides (of which there are nearly forty); about one half of these slides are short pieces, similarly cut to the longer ones. These are to fill up the openings where the slides are not put in, or are required to be withdrawn, as hereafter explained. He will find himself in possession of four boxes so neatly dove-tailed on the bevel, that, if he be of a mechanical turn, he will not only be surprised at the way in which they are put together, but also at the price for which they are offered. Three of the boxes, A, B, C, technically called "body boxes," are precisely similar, each being fourteen inches in diameter and five and a half inches deep inside. Nine bars range along the top of each box. These are not movable, but are so constructed to induce the correct and regular building of the combs. The fourth box, D, is the depriving box or super, is only four inches deep, and the same in diameter as the others. This being the honey-box, it is furnished with seven wide fixed bars, instead of nine, because, as stated at [page 93], bees construct deeper receptacles to contain the honey than for breeding in: thus, should the queen go up into this compartment, she may find the cells are too much elongated to enable her to reach the base, when her body is inserted for the purpose of depositing an egg. We have too much confidence in her majesty's sagacity to expect her to make such an attempt in honey-cells thus elongated; doubtless she will only look and pass on, seeking more suitable depositories, and confine her nursery to those lower regions where she is welcome. The honey is thus kept pure, and that which not unfrequently mars the qualify of a super—viz., cells that either contain brood or have been bred in—is prevented. Each box is furnished with two small windows, back and front, closed by sliding shutters, by which opportunity is afforded for inspecting the progress made, and also of knowing when the time has arrived that the cells are filled and the box may be taken away.