BEE HIVES: A bee hive is the home man has invented for the bees. Its design and arrangement is therefore intended to facilitate his control of the energy and industry of the bees for his own selfish ends. But in order to do this it must conform to the bee's notions and habits sufficiently to make it acceptable to them as a home. The modern beehive accomplishes both these points in a very practical way.

A one story hive complete consists of a body, comb frames, cover and bottom. A one story hive becomes two or three stories by the addition of supers. Supers used for producing extracted honey are usually the same depth and size as the lower section and therefore inters changeable. Some operators prefer a half depth super usually spoken of as a "shallow. " Comb honey is produced in a super equipped with section holders and separators which allow just the right amount of space for each section. Only in this way can sections of uniform weight be secured. The lower story of a hive is often spoken of as the brood chamber. Ninety-eight per cent of the hives in use are made for the Langstroth frame and are spoken of as standard hives. They are made in eight and ten frame sizes. I am frequently asked which size is best I invariably answer that is largely a matter of notion on the part of the beekeeper. The bees seem to do equally well in either size. There is this difference; the eight frame brood chamber being one-fifth smaller than the ten frame size requires less bees to occupy it and therefore, will require a super sooner in the spring.

During the heavy brooding and extracting season the eight frame hive will require two supers when the ten frame hive may need but one. If the flow is a heavy one all strong colonies should be supplied with two or more supers irrespective of size. I think the main reason why some beekeepers adopt the eight frame hive is that they are lighter and handle easier. This is quite an item especially to the migratory beekeeper. Ninety per cent of the hives used in Southern California are the ten frame size. Whichever size is adopted the other should be eliminated for they don't work well together. The eight frame super is too narrow for the ten frame brood chamber and vice versa. I would advise the beginner to buy his first hive already put together and the frames equipped with full sheets of comb foundation. With a correctly assembled hive as a pattern to work from it is a simple matter to put others together from flat material. A new hive should be given two coats of paint. White is the best color.

COMB FOUNDATION: Comb foundation is made from sheet beeswax. It is a great aid to the bees as it really amounts to a comb already half built. In addition to this saving in time it guarantees a perfect comb free from drone cells and therefore one that may be used in any part of the hive without exciting excessive drone production. Full sheets of foundation must be wired to prevent sagging and warping. The wire embedder presses the wire firmly into the sheets of the foundation.

WIRE IMBEDDERS: There are two types of wire imbedders, the spur wheel and the electric. The spur wheel is a cheap little affair consisting of a toothed wheel on a handle which is run along the wires and presses them into the wax foundation. The electric imbedder is much more elaborate and does much better and faster work. It uses an electric current to heat the wires which then melt their way to the center of the foundation. The current is turned off, the wire cools, and the job is done. Ordinarily the spur imbedder is only used where current is not available.

COMB HONEY SECTIONS: Sections may be bought already folded and set with foundation or they may be bought in the flat. Several inexpensive devices for folding them and setting the foundation may be had.

QUEEN EXCLUDERS: Queen excluders are for the purpose of preventing the queen from laying brood in the super combs. They go between the super and the brood chamber. The openings are large enough to allow the free passage of the workers but are too small to admit the queen. It simplifies the matter of taking off surplus honey to exclude the queen from the super. Many beekeepers object to the use of the queen excluders on the ground that by limiting the space allowed the queen to lay they tend to provoke swarming. My own experience is that it is inadvisable to use them until the swarming season is past, usually not until after the first extracting.