2. Straw.—Subsequently to the introduction of the above wood hive Mr. Woodbury recommended that the stock hive should be made of straw, of exactly the same dimensions; this material being warmer in winter, cooler in summer, more equable in temperature at all times, slightly ventilating, and allowing of absorption. Bees, during, cold weather, cluster together to generate the requisite degree of heat; the temperature of the interior of the hive being thus so much higher than the external atmosphere, a good deal of moisture condenses at the top and on the sides of the hive. The straw, as before stated, prevents this dampness hanging about within, and tends to keep the inmates more healthy.
The square straw hives, and a machine for making them, exhibited in the Austrian department of the International Exhibition of 1862, suggested the idea of employing that material for English frame hives. We have had a machine made resembling the one exhibited, and suited to the size in use by us, by which our hive-maker is able to manufacture neat square hives in straw. These have a wood frame at top, an inch deep, with the requisite notches to allow the ten comb-frames to hang. A similar frame forms the base, the straw being worked between. An inch projection is left on all sides of the floor-board beyond the exterior of the hive, from which it is slightly chamfered down. An entrance, four inches wide, is cut out of the substance of the board, beginning at the edge, and continuing on the same level until inside the hive, where it slopes upwards. This entrance is about three-eighths of an inch high where the hive crosses it.
These straw hives have been generally made without windows, as Mr. Woodbury and other scientific apiarians have so preferred them. They have considered glass windows unsuitable for winter, because then moisture condenses on the glass. There is no doubt that the having a peephole or two in a hive adds very agreeably to its value for amateur bee-keepers, and, to meet the wishes of such, we have had straw hives constructed with windows. It is not every one who would like to lift out the frames as often as is necessary for an inspection of the state of the colony, nor perhaps is it advisable to be often thus meddling. The windows have also a very neat appearance. We have hives with one, and some with two and three windows; of course a little extra expense is incurred where these are made, but that is not objected to by those who approve of the additional convenience. The crown-board (if a straw top can be called by that name) has, like the hive, a frame of wood all round, and a square piece of wood in the centre, with a two-inch hole; this hole is for the purpose of administering food, in a mode to be explained hereafter. A circular block of wood, four inches in diameter, closes the opening.
3. Glass.—Some bee-keepers like to be able to make a full and daily inspection of the hive; we have therefore prepared a few hives, constructed of wooden frames enclosed on all sides and on the top with window-glass. The dimensions are precisely the same as those before mentioned, and allow the same number of bars and frames (ten). The crown has a round hole cut in the glass to admit of feeding. The four sides are constructed of double glass, to preserve the bees from variations of temperature. We cannot, however, recommend this hive for a winter residence for the bees; we should prefer lifting the combs out and placing them in a straw hive of similar construction, to pass through the ordeal of the winter season ([Chap. V. § xx.]). Such a hive is an object of much interest, as in it the whole commonwealth of bees is exposed to view; and it need not be obscured from daylight, provided it be protected from sun and rain. All the external woodwork can be stained, varnished, or made of polished mahogany; so that the appearance of the glass frame hive is extremely neat, and much approved of.
§ X. NEIGHBOURS' NEW FRAME HIVE.
I. Wood.—Since the former editions of this work were published, several alterations and improvements have been made. We find, in the first place, that a deeper hive than the Woodbury is desirable for the better concentration of heat, and also to admit of more honey being stored above the brood, so that the food shall be easier of access to the bees in winter. Our new frame hive measures accordingly twenty-one inches from front to back, sixteen inches in width, and twelve in height, thus allowing the sides to be constructed of the original breadth of the planks, viz., eleven inches (the other inch being made up by the thickness of the floor-board). The frames, of which there are nine, are ten inches deep and thirteen wide; they rest on strips of zinc, which prevent the bees from propolising them down so firmly, and, as the outsides of the hive are so enlarged as to leave galleries from side to side beyond the ends of the bars, there is easy access allowed to the fingers in removing. Another noteworthy improvement is the addition of a "dummy frame," which is merely a thin piece of board of the same size as a frame, and whose use is either to contract the dimensions of the hive according to the population, or to make room, by its removal for the extraction of the first comb.
The frames are held firm and kept at their correct distances apart by means of small staples, and a slit is formed lengthways for the insertion of impressed wax sheets or guide-strips cut from these. The crown-board rests on the thin edge of zinc, in order that it may be replaced more quickly, with less danger of crushing a bee than on a broader surface. There is a feeding-hole in the centre of the board, which in some hives is closed by a zinc slide running in an opening cut out of the wood, and in others is covered by a wooden block. In the more highly finished hives two long openings are cut for admitting bees to the super. Two slides for each opening are supplied—one pair being of plain zinc for closing them entirely, the other with slits cut of three-sixteenths of an inch in width for the purpose of queen-preventers (see [Chap. IV. § xvii.]). The supers are similar, but not so deep, and have eight frames instead of nine; they are, however, frames, and not mere bars as ordinarily. The sides and top are of glass, with baize-lined shutters.
A hive intermediate between this and the Philadelphia ([§ xii.]), and which may be called "The Cottager's Improved Frame Hive," is shown inside the opened cover on [page 179]. It has a straw crown-board and a larger window, and is designed to admit a zinc adapter with queen-preventing perforations; in other respects it is identical with the above hive.