The book of bee-keeping : a practical and complete manual on the proper management of bees ... / by W. B. Webster.

  • Webster, W. B.
Date:
[1901]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The book of bee-keeping : a practical and complete manual on the proper management of bees ... / by W. B. Webster. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    some extent, no matter how well it is painted. The height of the riser is immaterial, as if made shallow others can be pro- vided to increase the height We use them from 9m. to nin. high. The illustration shows how the roof is formed. It is made of fin. stuff, and has a ventilating hole at back and front under the eaves at the top of the ridge ; this is covered with wire gauze to prevent the ingress of insect pests. The ventilators allow of the escape of moisture which would otherwise accumulate in the inside during winter, and so cause dysentery among the bees and rotting of the quilts. The roof is made of a size to just loosely fit over the riser without plinths. There is a “stop” all round the inside fin. from the bottom edge; this rests on the edge of the riser when the roof is in position. All our hives stand upon platforms of creosoted wood. These platforms consist of two pieces of yellow deal nin. by 24m. by 1 in., battened together. There is a great difficulty in getting the boards creosoted ; in this condition they are practically indestructible, except by fire ; if they are coated instead with hot gas-tar and then covered with hot sand they will last for years. A cheaper form of hive for cottagers’ use is here shown. The floor-board, made of iin. pine, rests upon two battens, 3m. by fin., placed edgeways and sloped at the front end to support the alighting- board. The body-box is formed of four pieces of pine, the front piece being 17m. full by iofin. by >t fin., and the back 17m. full by 11 in. by fin. The two sides are 172m. by nin. by ^in., and three sides there on are plinths 3in. by j^in. The inner walls are i6in. by 8§in Cottager's Bar-frame Hive. by 2>n. ; the spaces between the inner and outer walls are not blocked in with wood, but are filled up with sawdust or chaff. This body-box must be fitted up with ten frames and a division-board, as in the hive last described. The riser consists simply of four pieces of wood nailed together ; the front and back pieces being i8fin. by nin. by ^in., and the sides i8fin. by nin. by ^in. At fin. from the inside bottom edge a stop is nailed all round, so as to rest upon the top edge of the body-box when placed in position. This riser during winter can be made to cover the body-box, by removing the porch, which is not a fixture, and inverting the riser over the body-box, thus adding materially to the comfort of the inmates. The roof is