I will now try to describe what I believe to be one of the simplest and best forms for wooden bee boxes, and then show how the straw hive can be modified so as to answer the same purpose. I do not know whether I shall be able to make my description clear without the aid of a woodcut, but at all events it may serve to show what part of the hive must be made exactly in one way, and in no other, and what parts are unimportant, and may be modified according to the fancy of the owner. At one time I was an advocate for the system of side boxes, and the application of ventilation to them ; but I have had reason to think that boxes on the storyfying system are better adapted to this country, that the honey may be taken from them more easily than from almost any form of hive, and that they are both the cheapest and the best. Do not, however, go away with the idea that there is any magic in the form of box which I recommend, or that bees will make more honey in them, than in a hive of the rudest form--an old candle box or tea chest I have seen full of honey,--all I wish to do is to point out the form of box from which the honey may be obtained with the greatest ease. The box should be made of 11\(\!\) inch stuff, which will plane down to inch and a quarter. It should be fourteen inches over all, which will leave 11\(\!\) inches in the clear. The top is a moveable board prevented from slipping sideways by a projecting fillet which fits over the side of the box loosely, like the lid of a hat box. If the bees were hived in this box, as it is now, they would fasten their combs to the lid and to the sides, and there would be no means of getting them out, except those in use for a common hive. But ten bars made of quarter of an inch stuff, and exactly one inch wide, are to be countersunk in the sides of the box, so that the bars may be flush, and the top fit down close upon them. These bars are to be fitted with exactly a quarter of an inch between them, and one eighth of an inch between the outside bars and the sides. The width of the bars, and their arrangement, is a matter of the greatest consequence, and thatwhich is most frequently overlooked. A common carpenter, when he has an order for one of these hives, and has a pattern to make it by, will often say to himself, " there are these bars on the top. I will make them an inch and a half broad, or two inches, and put them half an inch apart; it will save me trouble, and I dare say do quite as well." He will then take the box home, and if the box was made for a novice in the craft, the bees will be put into it, and all will seem to go on well, till the time comes to take some honey, and then the error will be plain enough, as I will show when I come to speak of taking honey. The box should be about nine inches deep; with other boxes having similar bars across the top, but of a less depth, say four inches and a half or five inches, to fit on the top. One lid of course will do for a set. Windows you may put into the sides of these boxes of any size, and covered with shutters of any pattern, if you wish to see the bees at work;--but when you have a great many boxes made, you will like to get them as cheap as possible, and the windows may be omitted altogether;for an experienced bee master will tell by the weight of his hives when they have honey to spare for him. The bottom board should project at least an inch round the hive, and pieces clamped across the ends to prevent it twisting. The entrance for the bees should be countersunk in the bottom board, four inches wide, and a quarter of an inch deep, running up to nothing; a semicircular lighting board five inches wide should be under this doorway. A drawing or a model would be much more useful than this description, and I hope to send down from the apiary at St. John's College patterns of the different forms of hives which I should recommend my pupils in this place to adopt. At present they had better be content with hives of the above form. I have had some made for the maori bee keepers at Otaki and Waikanae by a carpenter of this place, who gave me satisfaction in the work which he did under my directions; and he has promised me to be equally careful in making any others which may be ordered of him. Give your wooden hives several coats of paint before the bees are put into them, and they will then last many years, if they are substantially made. I have still some boxes in use which I had thirteen years ago, and they are likely with care to last twice that time more.