By first giving a general description of the "bar-and-frame-hive,"
the details of its construction can be better explained afterwards.
An oblong box is formed of well seasoned wood of an inch in thickness,
about thirty inches long, sixteen inches high, and twelve inches broad;
but the size may be varied to suit the convenience or taste of different
apiarians. Instead of the lid of the box being flat, it is made in the
shape of the roof of a cottage, and with projecting eaves to throw
off the wet more effectually. One of the long sides of the box is
constructed to open with hinges, and to hang on a level with the
_bottom_ of the box, and is held up by means of two quadrants. As many
grooves, half of an inch broad, half an inch deep, and about 9-1/2
inches long, are formed, 1-1/8 of an inch apart, in the inside of the
bottom of the box as its length will admit.
In the other side, a long half inch slip is cut for the egress and
ingress of the bees, having a piece of wood about an inch thick, and
four inches wide, fastened on the outside, just under the opening, to
form the alighting board for them.
At the top, of the side of the box which is made to let down, a four
inch piece of mahogany the length of the inside of the box is secured
in, having corresponding grooves formed, half an inch broad, 1-1/8 of an
inch deep, and half an inch apart, to those made in the bottom of the
box, leaving just _twelve_ inches between the bottom grooves and the
upper bar grooves.
When the four legs are screwed into the four corners of the box, the
small "bee-house" is ready for the reception of the "bee-frames" and
the bees. The "bee-frames" are made of half inch mahogany, being twelve
inches high, nine inches long, and not more than half of an inch broad,
so that these frames will fit into the box, sliding into fifteen grooves
formed on the bottom, and kept securely in their places by the upper
grooves in the mahogany bar.
When the fifteen, or whatever number of the bee-frames intended to be
used, have been run into the grooves, sheets of perforated zinc are
placed on the tops of them; the 1-1/8 of an inch openings at the backs
of the frames being closed with slips of tin.
One of the bee-frames is made solid, with sheets of zinc being fixed
in it; this frame can then be used as a divider between any number of
the bee-frames, and thus form the box into two compartments, either to
augment or diminish the space in the box according to the size of the
swarm, or the increasing wants of the bees for more room.
The bees are then introduced into the hive (having first closed the
backs of the bee-frames with the slips of tin, and fastened the side
lid of the box against them, and also removed one of the sheets of
perforated zinc from the tops of the bee-frames) by dislodging the bees
from the straw-hive in which they had been previously collected, or
shaken from the boughs of the tree, where they may have settled, so as
to fall upon the tops of the frames within the box; when the bees have
all congregated within the bee-frames by crawling through the open
spaces at the top, the perforated sheet of zinc is placed over them; the
bees can then only escape through the long slip or entrance which was
made for them in the front of the box.
The top lid can be closed and locked, when the bees will be secure from
the gaze of the inquisitive, or the bad intentions of thieves.
Before I proceed to give any directions for the construction of the
"bar-and-frame-hive" I am _anxious_ to _warn_ all amateur carpenters,
and those who delight to superintend the labours of a "cheap working
country carpenter," against the fatal error of using unseasoned wood;
for, unless the "bottom board" and the "bee-frames" are made of
mahogany, or some well-seasoned, hard, or close-grained wood, the
advantages of the bar and frame-hive will be quite destroyed, as the
great object is to have the bee-frames to slide in and out of the
grooves with the _greatest facility_. Throughout the whole of the making
of the hive or box, no glue should be used, unless further secured with
small SCREWS OR NAILS.[1]
[Footnote 1: Mr. John Milton of No. 10, Great Marylebone-street, has
some well constructed bar and frame bee-hives of various prices.]
The oblong box, A B C D, E F and E F (Plate I, fig. 1), is to be made of
well-seasoned poplar, fir, or deal, of an inch in thickness; the inside
dimensions are 28 inches and 5/8 of an inch long from A to C, 10-1/2
inches broad from A to B, and sixteen inches deep from A to E.
The top lid A B C D is formed in the shape of a common roof, and made
to project an inch, before, behind, and at the two gable ends, like the
eaves of a cottage to throw off the wet.
The half of this roof G H, is made to open and fall back with hinges
_h h_.
The two gable ends of the roof have holes cut in them, _i, k_, to admit
the circulation of air; and secured with perforated zinc withinside to
prevent the intrusion of wasps, or any other enemies to bees; the gable
marked _i_, shows the perforated zinc framed into the gable, and _k_ the
outside appearance of the ventilator.
The side of the box marked A C E E, is made to let down and form a table
I J, hung on hinges P P, and supported by the quadrants Q Q, one inch
_below the level of the bottom board_.
Two handles are fixed in the ends of the box, one shown in the sketch
at T.
Two blocks of wood are screwed on the bottom of the box (one shown at U)
to keep it off the ground, &c., when the four legs, L L L L, at the four
corners of the box are unscrewed for the convenience of packing, &c. In
the opposite side or front of the box at X X, is fixed a piece of board
_e_, four inches broad, and an inch thick, extending the whole length
from F F; this is secured at an angle with the bottom of the box, so as
to form a slightly inclined plain _e_, for the alighting board, which
would be always dry for the bees to land upon. A half inch opening is
made from F to F, just above the alighting board, for the ingress and
egress of the bees. Slides are made _s s_, to regulate the extent of the
openings, or to entirely close the entrance to the box; these slides can
be drawn out when it is necessary to clean the bottom board, &c.
Within-side the box, two pieces of red cedar of half an inch in
thickness, 12-1/8 inches long, 9-1/2 inches broad, are nailed on to
each end at E F, and E F (one of the pieces of red cedar shown at R).
The quadrants, Q Q, being made to work between them and the outer case.
A fillet, _v v_, is fastened on a level with the tops of the two pieces
of red cedar, to form a ledge of about a 1/4 of an inch all round, to
support the sheets of perforated zinc, as shown at W W.
Sixteen pieces of mahogany, 1-1/8 of an inch broad, and half an inch
deep, are to be screwed to the mahogany floor board, commencing against
the piece of red cedar, R, and leaving a space between each piece, half
of an inch, and finishing against the other piece of red cedar with the
last; there will then be formed fifteen grooves, half of an inch in
width, half an inch in depth, and 9-1/2 inches long on the floor-board
as shown at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
A bar of mahogany, Y Y, about two inches square, having grooves,
X X X X, &c., corresponding to those on the floor-board, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, &c., is let in, and fastened between A and C, having a clear space of
twelve inches between the floor-board, and this top bar; the object of
these grooves being to receive, and keep steadily in their places, the
fifteen bee-frames, when introduced into them.
[Illustration: _Fig. I._]
The "bee-frames" are made of mahogany, nine inches long, twelve inches
high, and half an inch broad. Each frame is _dove-tailed_ to make it
strong at the angles, and to keep it true; the upper part is formed of
one inch mahogany, and _bevelled_ off (as the carpenters call it) to the
eighth of an inch, in the centre, as shown at _a_, fig. 1: on the two
sides of this triangular bar, _b b_, pieces of glass, extending the
length of the bar, are fixed with red lead. The two sides of the frame,
_d, d_, are to increase in size, from half an inch at the top, to 1-1/2
inches at the bottom. The bottom piece, _c_, is half an inch in depth.
The back of each frame has a piece of tin, about the thickness of a
card, fixed on it, of the exact size, viz. twelve inches long, and half
an inch broad, _e, e_. In the centre of the back of each frame, _f_,
a screw-nut is let in, which is made to fit a screw at the end of a
long spindle, S, Plate I, fig. 1. This spindle with a handle, Z, will
screw equally well into the screw-nuts of the fifteen bee-frames and
division-frame. The use of this spindle being, to draw in and out of the
grooves the fifteen bee-frames when required. When the bee-frames have
been put into the grooves in the box, slips of tin about thirteen inches
long, and and a half broad, are slipped into their backs (being run in
between the backs of the bee-frames, and the pieces of thin tin fixed
upon them), to close the 1-1/8 of an inch openings. And three or four
sheets of perforated zinc are laid upon the tops of the bee-frames,
resting on the fillets. Thus, then, when a swarm of bees has been
introduced into this box, the bees have to build their combs within
the fifteen bee-frames, or whatever number may have been run into the
grooves for that purpose. The bees cannot escape from above the frames,
as the sheets of perforated zinc prevent them, nor from the 1-1/8 of an
inch openings at the backs of the frames, as they have been closed with
the slips of tin; the only open part being the long narrow slip, just
above the alighting board, which was originally left for their ingress
and egress.
The division-frame is made of half inch mahogany, twelve inches high,
9-1/2 long, and half of an inch broad. So that it will run into any of
the grooves formed for the bee-frames; but made to fit close to the box
at the end, by means of a slip of wood, C C, fig. 2, to prevent the bees
crawling between the frame and the outer-box, as they can do round the
bee-frames.
[Illustration: _Fig. II._]
The division-frame itself is closed by having two sheets of zinc run
into it as shown in fig. 2, the one marked _b b b b_, and partly drawn
out, being of solid sheet zinc; and _a a_, the other in the frame, of
perforated zinc; _d_, being the screw-nut (like those in the bee-frames)
by means of which it can be drawn out into the observation-frame, &c.
Thus, wherever this division-frame is run into the bee-box, (except of
course at No. 1, and No. 15 grooves) it cuts off all communication with
the bee-frames on the right or left of it; and two colonies of bees may
be kept in the same box, and still have distinct frames to work upon,
and separate entrances, &c.
If then bees have been put into one of the bar-and-frame-hives, and
sufficient time has been given them to build their combs within "the
bee-frames," the frames with their contents can be drawn out into the
"observation-frame," (which will be more fully described) whenever it
is wished to examine the bees, &c., as the 1-1/8 of an inch spaces
between the grooves will allow of a sufficient distance to be preserved,
between the lateral surfaces of the perpendicular combs formed in the
"bee-frames," and thus permit them to slide by each other with facility.
[Illustration: _Fig. III._]
The "observation-frame," fig. 3, is a mahogany frame, fourteen inches
high, eleven inches long, and about four inches wide, having a single
groove half an inch deep, and half an inch broad, running within its
whole length of eleven inches. The two largest sides have panes of glass
fixed in them with small brads. The top, bottom, and one end (this end
forming the back) of this frame, are made of solid wood; the back having
a small hole, _f_, 2/8 of an inch in diameter in the middle, to allow
the spindle before mentioned to pass through it. The end which forms the
front of the frame is open, so that any one of the bee-frames can be run
into the observation-frame, but may be closed by a piece of tin (_d_)
being slipt into the small grooves at _c c_. The observation-frame has
two pins, _a, b_, to fit into the 2/8 holes made along the bottom board
of the bee-box, shown by the figures, 1, 2, 3, &c., see Plate I, fig. 1,
and also two small bolts _r_ and _m_; _r_, the upper one to fix into the
holes above X X X, &c., in the mahogany bar; (but this bolt is only used
during the operation of drawing out the bee-frames into the observation
frame); and the other bolt _m_ at the back of the frame, to fasten into
the 2/8 holes, _a, a, a_, &c., made in the lid, I J. When the two pins
and the bolts of the observation-frame have been adjusted and fixed, the
groove in it will be in a straight line with one of the grooves formed
in the bottom board of the box, consequently a bee-frame can be made to
slide, by means of the long spindle, in and out of the box, into the
observation-frame.
The use of this "observation frame" must now be explained more fully:
the top lid of the bee box, Plate I, fig. 1. G. H. being thrown up,
will screen the "operator" from the bees, which are flying in and out
in the front of the hive or box. The back lid, I. J., is let down, and
supported by the quadrants Q. Q., and forms a table, the box having been
raised from the ground by the four legs, L L L L. The observation frame
is placed opposite to whichever bee-frame is to be examined; the two
pins, _a, b_, fig. 3, running into the holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c., made
in the bottom board. The small bolts, Plate I, secured at the top, as
at _r_, and the back _m_: the long spindle, S, is run through the 2/8
hole in the back of the observation frame, as at Z, and the end of the
spindle screwed into the screw socket _t_, at the back of the bee-frame
_w_; the two pieces of tin on the right and left of the bee-frame are
pulled out (of course the observation frame being empty, and having the
piece of tin from its front taken out), the operator holding by the
handle, _z_, of the spindle, gradually draws out the bee-frame into the
observation frame, and after examining the bees and comb, gently returns
the bee-frame into its groove in the floor-board: the two slips of
tin are then replaced in the backs of the bee-frames: the spindle is
unscrewed and withdrawn, the bolts are unfastened, the observation frame
being kept firmly in its place, held by the left hand of the operator,
whilst with the right he runs in the long slip of tin, _d_, fig. 3, into
the front of the observation frame, to keep the bees (escaped from the
returned bee-frame), until the observation frame is again fixed opposite
to another bee-frame, when the tin is withdrawn and the bolts fastened
as before. It has been shown that by these means, each bee-frame, and
the bees and comb contained in it, can be easily drawn out and examined,
without interfering with any other part of the hive, or occasioning the
loss of a single bee.
The whole of the interior of the hive is thus open to inspection at any
moment, and a choice can be made of the combs containing the most honey,
or the bee owner enabled to trace the devastation of the honey moth,
and ascertain the presence of any other enemy, and this without the
assistance of smoke, which must be injurious both to the bees and their
brood.
When the bee-frame is returned and secured, the observation-frame is
removed; then the lid, I J, being shut up and bolted, and the upper lid,
G H, closed, the box may be locked up. When the bees have been shut in
with the slide in the front, the hive or box is ready to be transported
anywhere, to procure new pasturage for them, which, as every experienced
bee-keeper knows, is of the greatest benefit to prolong their
honey-harvest.
Perfect protection from wet and the vicissitudes of temperature, is
partly ensured by the external bee-box being made of well-seasoned wood;
poplar is recommended as of a looser grain than fir, deal, &c., and
consequently, not so great a conductor of heat; but the objection to
wooden bee-hives or boxes, for being more easily affected by the
variations of the temperature, is removed by the construction of the
"bar frame-hive;" for the bee-frames form, as it were, a smaller box
within the oblong box, and are not in immediate contact with the
external air, but have a half inch space nearly all round them, which
will to a certain extent maintain an equable temperature for the bees,
both in summer and winter.
Any moisture condensed from the heated air generated by the bees, is
carried off through the perforated sheets of zinc above the frames, and
cool store-room for the honey is also thus secured.
A feeding trough is made on the principle of a bird-glass: with a tin
feeder and a small bottle for the liquid food to be put into.
[Illustration: _Fig. IV._]
The tin feeder is six inches by 7-1/2 long, and one inch deep, and just
fits on to the top of the bee-frames, where the perforated sheets of
zinc are laid; within this feeder a half inch opening is cut at the
bottom, fig 4, _a_, and an inclined plane _b_, reaching half way up
the depth of the trough; and a sheet of perforated tin, _c_ (placed
horizontally from point _b_,) through which the bees suck the food,
which is kept at the same level by atmospheric pressure; for as the food
is drawn down below the mouth of the bottle, _d_, air forces itself into
the bottle, and the same quantity of food trickles down into the feeder,
a piece of glass, _e_, exactly the same size as the feeder, is placed
over it, through which the bees may be seen whilst feeding, and the
feeding trough will be nearly of the same temperature as the interior
of the box or hive, and prevent the bees being chilled, as they would
be in winter, if compelled to descend for their food; and besides, the
bees are less likely to be attacked by wasps or strange bees when fed
from above, as the intruders would have to ascend through the mass of
bees in the box, which would be attended with danger to them.
The bees can be fed when necessary by one of the sheets of perforated
zinc being drawn on one side, and the feeding trough, with the bottle of
food in it, being placed over the opening; when the bees will ascend
through the half inch space at _a_, and feed themselves with the liquid,
or carry it away and store it up for future use.