Mr. Abbott, the well-known maker of apparatus of all kinds for apiculture, who was the editor and proprietor of The Bee Journal for many years, has also made various arrangements and improvements to secure advantages beyond those of the original Woodbury hive. We cannot detail all these modifications; but among them may be mentioned that the ends of his frames are so notched as to render them easily held by the fingers when it is required to lift them, and to replace them. Mr. Abbott also makes hives of various degrees of cheapness, according to the conveniences required and the neatness of workmanship demanded. We may safely attribute to him a vast influence on scientific bee-keeping, and a visit to his works and apiary at Southall, not far from London, on the Great Western Railway, will well repay any one interested in apiculture.
Fig. 52.—Abbott's Standard Frame.
Fig. 53.—Abbott's Standard Frame (top view).
All the hives we have just been describing are adapted for supering, i.e. for getting honey stored in receptacles above the stock portion. The usual and most convenient form of such receptacles is that of small oblong cases, without front or back, cut in one flat piece of wood, and easily folded into shape, their slotted ends fitting, by pressure, tightly into one another. At the top of each, when folded, a small piece of guide comb is attached, as a help and an attraction to the bees in beginning their work in them.
Fig. 54.—Neighbour's Sectional Super (Open).
Fig. 55.—Frame Super.