Stand for Hive.—Having, therefore, for these reasons, recommended the abandonment of Bee-houses altogether, I would say, Place each hive upon r separate board supported by a single pedestal 4 or 5 inches in diameter—a piece of wood with the bark on does remarkably well; place it firmly in the ground, and about 15 inches from its surface. Upon the top of this post should be nailed firmly a piece of board 8 or 9 inches square, upon which should be placed the board the hive stands upon, but not united to it, so that the hive may be removed whenever required without disturbing the Bees.
Clay or mortar should never be used to fasten the hive to the board; the Bees will do that in a much more effectual manner themselves, with a substance they collect from resinous trees called propolis. Mortar or clay tends very much to decay the hives; and hives managed on this principle are expected to stand for fifteen or even twenty years. Let the hives be placed about 3 feet apart from each other, and in a right line. The best covering, as a protection from rain, is a large flat earthen pan (a milk-pan) sufficiently large to prevent the drip from falling upon the board. It would in all cases be well to give them the shelter of a wall or fence from the north, but on no account place them close to it, but leave a space of 4 or 5 feet at least for a path; for the operations of taking off small hives, glasses, or boxes of honey, are much more conveniently effected at the back than in the front of the hives. It would be well to clean the boards on which the hives stand four times in the year—namely, in January, March, April, and November. January and March are the most important.
The place where the hives are fixed should be kept clear of weeds; and plants which rise in height equal to or exceeding the entrance of the hives should not be suffered to grow near them.
HIVES.
I am more and more convinced, from experience, that Bees do much better in broad, shallow hives, than in any others. All the hives that I have used myself for the last three years, and those that I have had made for the last two, have been of this kind—namely, 7 inches deep, and 14 inches wide, measuring in the inside. The only inconvenience that can possibly arise from a hive of this shape is, that from the great weight of supers which year after year it will have to bear, the top will sink a little; therefore it should never be used without an adapting-board of 12 inches square; this will take the weight of the supers from the centre to the side of the hive; indeed, it would be better to let the adapting-board remain a fixture upon the hive when once fastened down by the Bees, and should the corners at all interfere with the cover, where the milk-pan is used, they may be rounded off a little to the size of the hive.
PAYNE'S IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE.
With regard to the materials of which hives are made, I believe it to be a matter of indifference whether straw or wood be used, but the facility and economy in the construction of straw hives must always be a recommendation, especially to the cottager. Having, therefore, decided upon the materials for cottagers' hives, their form must now be considered. For straw hives I would recommend the following size:—7 inches deep and 14 in diameter; straight at the sides and flat at the top; in shape like a half-bushel measure. A hole should be made in the top 4 inches in diameter, and a piece of straw-work, like that of which the hive is made, large enough to cover it, must be fastened over the hole; not to fit in, but to cover over it.
Fig. 2.
It is better to have a groove made in the floor-board for an entrance than to cut a piece out of the hive. The entrance should be 3 inches wide by three-eighths of an inch high, to which affix a piece of copper or zinc, about 6 inches long by 3 inches wide, having a groove to admit two sliding plates, one perforated, and the other having a hole large enough to allow but one Bee to come out at a time.