It is a great desideratum that all the bars and frames in an apiary should be of precisely the same dimensions, so as to fit every hive. A hive that is weakly may often be advantageously strengthened by having put into it a comb of brood from a populous stock, to which an empty frame from the weak one may be given; no bees must be on the brood-comb--these should be shaken off or gently dislodged with a feather into the hive from which the comb is taken. The frames of combs should then be, one by one, placed so as to fill in the vacancy, leaving, the empty frame nearest the side. In the _British Bee Journal_ of March 1875, Mr. Cowan gives the following excellent description of his system of working frame hives. He says: "The method is very simple, but is one that requires much attention, which is, however, well repaid by the extra quantity of honey obtained. The hives I use are the ten-frame Woodbury, and thirteen-frame on the Woodbury plan, only longer. In the autumn I transfer the bees into clean hives and leave them seven or eight frames, and should they be short of food or of bees I add those I may take from the cottagers in the neighbourhood. I feed with sugar and water of the strength of two pounds of sugar to a pint of water boiled a few minutes. They are fed up to a weight of thirty pounds. During winter they have ample ventilation--the hives being raised about one-eighth of an inch from the floor-board, and the top board is also raised about the same height, so that there is a constant current of air through the hive. While I am on the subject of wintering I may mention that I have tried several plans. With the above I have always been free from mouldy combs. I have also tried wintering without crown-boards, by merely placing an empty super on the top, and I have done so successfully--in fact, the hive which produced the largest quantity of honey last year was wintered in this way. Condensers I have tried, but give the preference to crown-boards without them. I am trying the quilts on some of my hives, but must reserve my opinion about them until later on.