<P> Bee gums are still used by beekeepers today, for bee species whose honey output is less than that of the more productive honeybee . Unlike most beehives (which are optimized for Apis mellifera and Apis cerana), the bee gum allows housing of other bee species . The bee gum allows the bees themselves to organize their nest (nest structure and cells in which to store their honey and pollen). </P> <P> In some instances, bee gums are also still used, even with bee species that do produce large quantities of honey (i.e. Apis mellifera nigra). However, in these instances, part of the reason why bee gums are then used is that this allows the producers of the honey to distinguish themselves from other honey producers and to ask a higher price for the honey . An example where bee gums are still used is Mont - Lozère, France . The length of the bee gums used are rather on the short side; unlike regular bee gums, the bee gums are hollowed out artificially and cut to a specific size . </P> <P> The earliest recognizably modern designs of beehives arose in the 19th century, though they were perfected from intermediate stages of progress made in the 18th century . </P> <P> Intermediate stages in hive design were recorded for example by Thomas Wildman in 1768 / 1770, who described advances over the destructive old skep - based beekeeping so that the bees no longer had to be killed to harvest the honey . Wildman, for example, fixed a parallel array of wooden bars across the top of a straw hive or skep (with a separate straw top to be fixed on later) "so that there are in all seven bars of deal" (in a 10 - inch - diameter (250 mm) hive) "to which the bees fix their combs". He also described using such hives in a multi-story configuration, foreshadowing the modern use of supers: he described adding (at the proper time) successive straw hives below, and eventually removing the ones above when free of brood and filled with honey, so that the bees could be separately preserved at the harvest for a following season . Wildman also described a further development, using hives with "sliding frames" for the bees to build their comb, foreshadowing more modern uses of movable - comb hives . Wildman acknowledged the advances in knowledge of bees previously made by Swammerdam, Maraldi, and de Reaumur--he included a lengthy translation of Reaumur's account of the natural history of bees--and he also described the initiatives of others in designing hives for the preservation of bee - life when taking the harvest, citing in particular reports from Brittany dating from the 1750s, due to Comte de la Bourdonnaye . </P>

What do you call a collection of bees