Small hives may yield excellent results in the hands of a skillful bee-master, but an equal degree of skill will, in general, give as good, if not better, returns from large hives, and the novice who may not know just when or how to perform all operations will find himself much safer with hives holding ten or twelve frames in each story, and far more likely to secure good returns from them than from smaller ones.
A good, tight roof or cover is indispensable, well painted, so that no drop of water can get in from above. A flat roof slanting from front to rear will answer, but a ventilated gable roof with the sides well slanted is far preferable. Above the sections or the upper set of frames a piece of carriage cloth, enameled side down, should be laid during the summer season to prevent too great escape of heat above and to keep the bees from getting into the roof or propolizing it. The cloth is more suitable than a board, since the latter when propolized can not be removed without considerably jarring the bees. If the carriage cloth be weighted with a board which has been clamped with a strip across each end to prevent warping, there will be less propolization of the sections above or building of bits of comb on the tops of the frames when these have been used. To dispense with this extra piece and also to render the gable cover flat on the underside, the board which rests on the carriage cloth may be nailed to the cover permanently. During very hot weather the quilt may be turned back and the cover propped up.
The bottom board to the hive may be nailed permanently or the hive may be merely placed on it. In either case the sides and back of the hive should be wide enough to come down over the edges of the bottom board and thus shed all water that runs down the outside of the hive. A sloping board in front will facilitate the entrance of heavily laden bees and many that fall to the ground will crawl in if the hive is within 8 or 10 inches of the ground. Many persons place the bottom boards directly on the ground, and the majority have them but 3 or 4 inches above the surface. By arranging them farther from the ground, at least 6 or 8 inches, dampness is avoided and the ease in manipulation is greatly increased. English manufacturers make the Langstroth hive with permanent legs some 6 or 8 inches long. This is no doubt necessary in the damp climate of that country, and even here the free circulation of the air beneath the hive and the entrance of direct rays of sunlight at times are so beneficial that there might well be a return to this valuable feature, which was part of the original Langstroth hive.
Great accuracy of parts must be insisted upon in hives and frames, both because covers and top stories should be made to fit interchangeably, and because the bees carry out their own work with great precision, so that ease in manipulation of combs can only be secured by nice adjustment. Hives cut by machinery are therefore greatly to be preferred, and though most of those kept in stock by apiarian manufacturers do not include in their construction all of the features mentioned above, they still answer in most particulars the requirements of bee life, and, if proper protection for the winter be afforded, are very serviceable.
IMPLEMENTS.
BEE SMOKERS.
No well-appointed apiary in these days is without one or more bee smokers. The professional bee keeper who has once used a bellows smoker would as soon think of dispensing with this implement as a skillful cook would be disposed to go back from the modern cooking range to the old-fashioned fireplace.
Fig. 32.—The Bingham bee smoker.