I am more and more convinced, from experience, that Bees do much better
in broad, shallow hives, than in any others. All the hives that I have
used myself for the last three years, and those that I have had made
for the last two, have been of this kind--namely, 7 inches deep, and 14
inches wide, measuring in the inside. The only inconvenience that can
possibly arise from a hive of this shape is, that from the great weight
of supers which year after year it will have to bear, the top will sink
a little; therefore it should never be used without an adapting-board
of 12 inches square; this will take the weight of the supers from the
centre to the side of the hive; indeed, it would be better to let the
adapting-board remain a fixture upon the hive when once fastened down
by the Bees, and should the corners at all interfere with the cover,
where the milk-pan is used, they may be rounded off a little to the
size of the hive.