oney in their combs in any receptacle of any
shape or size, provided it affords them shelter from the weather.

Hives made of straw are generally preferred for an out-of-door apiary,
as being less liable to be over-heated by the rays of the sun, and
in the winter they exclude the cold better than hives made of other
materials, while the moisture arising from the bees is more quickly
absorbed within the hive, and does not run down the sides as it
generally does in wooden hives or boxes; at the same time they are
always to be obtained from their cheapness, and from their simplicity
easily understood and made use of; wooden boxes can only be used with
advantage in a bee-house, they stand firmer on the bottom boards, or
one upon another, they admit of having glass windows, through which
to observe the operations of the bees, and they are not so liable to
harbour moths, spiders, and other insects, as the straw hives.

The objects to be attained in the construction and management of an
apiary, are, to secure the prosperity and multiplication of the colonies
of bees, to increase the amount of their productive labour, and to
obtain their products with facility, and with the least possible
detriment to the stock. It is to the interest of the owner, therefore,
that he provide for the bees shelter against moisture, and the extremes
of heat and cold--especially, sudden vicissitudes of temperature,
protection from their numerous enemies, every facility for constructing
their combs and for rearing their brood, and that the hive should be so
constructed as to allow of every part of the combs to be inspected at
any moment, and capable of removal when requisite: and while attention
is paid to economy, it should be made of materials that will secure its
durability.

These observations apply equally to the straw hives, boxes, or whatever
the bees may be lodged in or hived. Some cultivators of bees have been
chiefly anxious to promote their multiplication, and to prevent the
escape of the swarms in their natural way, by forming artificial swarms,
by separating a populous hive previous to its swarming, into two parts,
and allowing to each greater room for the construction of their works.
Others, and the most numerous class, have contemplated only the
abundance of the products which they yield, and the facility of
extracting them from the hive, without showing any particular solicitude
as to the preservation of the bees themselves. Another