Nowadays the straw skeps are very seldom seen, for their place is taken by the wooden hives we have already considered. The frames containing the combs are all of the same size, so that they may be transferred from one hive to another. For instance, should a certain hive have collected a large quantity of honey for winter use, and another hive not have sufficient, the bee-keeper may take one or two frames of this honeycomb from the rich hive and put it into the poor one, and in this way both lots of bees will live throughout the winter. In many other ways the frame hives are useful, besides being much more healthy. The bees need not be killed in order to get the honey, as was necessary with the skeps, for a puff or two of smoke is all that is required, and while they are frightened we may remove the sections. You will understand that the sooner the queen sees pollen coming into the hive in the early spring, the sooner will she commence laying eggs. The sooner the eggs are laid, the more bees will there be ready for the summer flowers. So the bee-keeper sprinkles pea-flour in a box of shavings near the hive in the early days of spring. The bees soon find the flour, and, thinking it is pollen, they commence to carry it into the hive. When the queen sees it coming in she is deceived, and thinks summer is at hand; so she commences to lay eggs. This gives the hive a start, so that when spring really comes, there are large numbers of bees ready to gather honey from the early flowers. We have already mentioned that a great quantity of honey has to be consumed before wax can be made, and this is a serious loss to the bee-keeper, for it not only reduces the stores, but also wastes valuable time as well. So the bees are now provided with a thin sheet of wax, a piece of which hangs downward in each frame. On it is stamped the exact design of the cells, so that not only is material provided for the bees, but the architects are saved the trouble of having to map out where each cell shall be. A piece of this “foundation,” as it is called, is shown in Plate XXXIII. The bees readily take to it, and as soon as the work of building is to commence they knead the wax and draw it out from the foundation, until it is a complete cell. In this way a great deal of time is saved. [Illustration: PLATE XXXIII From a photograph by] [E. Hawks Foundation, showing the Pattern for Cells] CHAPTER XXXVIII THE BEES’ ENEMIES Bees have many enemies, apart from robber bees, who try to steal their honey. In winter-time, when pressed by hunger, certain birds come to a bee-hive and commence tapping on the alighting-board. Of course some of the bees come to the door to see what is the matter, and no sooner do they appear on the threshold than the sharp little birds grab them in their beaks, and so make a meal. Birds often catch the bees as they are gathering nectar in the fields, and no one knows how many perish in this way.