8. It should allow the combs to be removed without any jarring.
Bees manifest the utmost aversion to any sudden jar; for it is in this way, that their combs are loosened and detached. However firmly fastened the frames may be in my hive, they can all be loosened in a few moments, without injuring or exciting the bees.
9. It should allow every good piece of comb to be given to the bees, instead of being melted into wax. (See Chapter on [Comb].)
10. The construction of the hive should induce the bees to build their combs with great regularity.
A hive which contains a large proportion of irregular comb, can never be expected to prosper. Such comb is only suitable for storing honey, or raising drones. This is one reason why so many colonies never flourish. A glance will often show that a hive contains so much drone comb, as to be unfit for the purposes of a stock hive.
11. It should furnish the means of procuring comb to be used as a guide to the bees, in building regular combs in empty hives; and to induce them more readily to take possession of the surplus honey receptacles.
It is well known that the presence of comb will induce bees to begin work much more readily than they otherwise Would: this is especially the case in glass vessels.
12. It should allow the removal of drone combs from the hive, to prevent the breeding of too many drones. (See remarks on Drones.)
13. It should enable the Apiarian, when the combs become too old, to remove them, and supply their place with new ones.
No hive can, in this respect, equal one in which, in a few moments, any comb can be removed, and the part which is too old, be cut off. The upper part of a comb, which is generally used for storing honey, will last without renewal for many years.