It will not be necessary to trouble the reader at present with any details of the structure of the bee-hive, these being of use chiefly only to those who intend to make their own hives; and this is not recommended, as good hives can now be obtained ready-made from the leading dealers, which are much more satisfactory.
A hive with the combs fixed in movable frames like the one described above has a great advantage over the old-fashioned round straw hives or skeps in which the combs are fixed immovably. In the former, any or all of the frames of comb may be lifted out and examined, and the exact state of the colony ascertained in a few minutes, while with the latter the bee-keeper could never tell what was going on inside the hive. Without knowledge there cannot be much progress, and we can understand how, by keeping bees in this latter style, our forefathers for so many centuries never dreamt of any improvement on their barbarous plan of destroying the bees by burning brimstone when they wanted to obtain the honey.
In this country we have now a further advantage in the movable comb system by the universal adoption of a standard size of frame, which has been fixed by the British Bee-keepers’ Association. These standard frames are of course interchangeable, and will fit any hive made to take them.
There are one or two ways of making a start in keeping bees, but the best for this time of the year is to procure a swarm. Two swarms obtained in May or the early part of June would make a very good beginning. It is not advisable to start with more, until a little experience is gained, and thus the chances of failure and disappointment will be diminished.
The following is a list of articles necessary for commencing bee-keeping which should now be procured, so that all may be in readiness for the swarm when it comes, some directions for hiving which will be given in the next paper.
LIST OF ARTICLES FOR COMMENCING BEE-KEEPING.
| s. | d. | ||
| 1. | Hive, with 10 standard frames and 2 dummies, 10s. to | 20 | 0 |
| 2. | Super, containing 21 1-lb. sections | 2 | 6 |
| 3. | Sheet of queen-excluding zinc | 0 | 8 |
| 4. | Brood foundation, 1½ lbs. | 3 | 3 |
| 5. | Super foundation, ¼ lb. | 0 | 8 |
| 6. | Bottle feeder with wooden stage | 1 | 0 |
| 7. | Smoker, with guard | 2 | 3 |
| 8. | Bee-veil; net, with black before the face | 1 | 0 |
(To be continued.)