To ensure comb-building on the bars, pieces of clean worker-comb should always be carefully preserved; and before a swarm is put in, either every bar or, if guide comb is not plentiful, every other bar should have a piece fixed to it in the following manner:--Cut a piece of clean empty comb of the required size, say two inches square, not less; heat a common flat iron, with which slightly warm the bar; then melt a little bees'-wax upon it; draw the comb quickly over the heated iron, hold it down on the centre of the bar, giving a very slight movement backwards and forwards; then leave the wax to grow cold, and, if cleverly managed, the guide will be found firmly attached. Care must be taken that the pitch or inclination of the comb be the same as it is in the hives--upwards from the centre of each comb. A new plan has lately been introduced by Mr. Woodbury, of Exeter, to facilitate the correct construction of parallel combs. NEIGHBOUR'S IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE. Our Improved Cottage Hive is neatly made of straw, bound with cane, and therefore very durable.[9] The lower hive is covered with a wooden top, having in it three holes, through which the bees convey their honey into three middle-sized bell glasses with ventilators, which, when filled, hold about 6 lbs. each. There is a hoop at the bottom, another round the top of the lower hive; to this the wooden crown-board is fastened. These hoops are a great improvement, and are less liable to harbour insects than if straw alone were used. The floor-board, as its name implies, is a wooden board one and a quarter inch thick, with a projection of three or four inches under the entrance to form an alighting place. This entrance is cut out of, or sunk in, the board. [Footnote 9: This is the hive referred to by the Bee-Master of the _Times_, when he says:--"The second kind of hive I alluded to is made of straw, and may be purchased at Neighbour's, in Holborn.... It is so well made that it will last very long. I have had one in constant use during ten years, and it is still as good as when it was bought."] [Illustration]