The suspended Langstroth frame is used more than any other frame among
English-speaking bee keepers. It is safe to say that in the United
States 500 hives are made and used which are essentially Langstroth in
principle to one frame hive of any other kind whatever. In the British
Islands, Australia, and New Zealand the proportion of frames on the
Langstroth principle in use is probably even greater, scarcely any
other frame hives being employed.
The success of American bee culture in the last twenty years was first
attributed by European bee keepers to the honey-producing power of
the country; but the most intelligent apiarists who have tried the
American methods with the Langstroth hive now recognize that success is
principally due to the manipulations that it permits. ("The Hive and
Honey Bee," revised, 1888, page 145.)
We can predict, and without any fear of mistake, that the principles on
which the Langstroth hive is based will be admitted sooner or later by
the most progressive bee keepers of the world. ("Revue Internationale
d'Apiculture" (Switzerland), September, 1885, edited by Edouard
Bertrand.)
[Illustration: Fig. 4.--Langstroth hive with two half-depth
supers for surplus honey.]
There being no patent on the Langstroth hive, and accurately made hives
being obtainable at moderate prices from hive factories in various
parts of the country, it is taken for granted that the enterprising
beginner will adopt a simple form embodying this principle--the
loose-fitting, suspended comb frame--as its main feature. The hive
should not only be substantially built, but should have accurate
bee-spaces and a close-fitting, rain-proof cover or roof. Factory-made
hives, as a rule, best meet these requirements, as both lock joints
and halved corners can only be made to advantage by machinery, and the
expert hive builder understands, of course, the absolute necessity of
great accuracy in bee-spaces, as well as the great desirability of good
material and workmanship (figs. 4, 5, and 11). Provision should also
be made for winter protection. (See pages 39-41.)
[Illustration: Fig. 5.--The Langstroth hive--Dadant-Quinby
form--cross section showing construction.]
For comb honey, hives permitting the insertion in the brood apartment
of any number of frames up to eight, or frequently up to ten, are most
in use. In securing extracted honey, those with ten to twelve frames in
each story are preferable, and as many stories, one above the other,
are employed as the strength of the colony and a given harvest may
require. A construction, therefore, which readily admits of expansion
and of contraction, as occasion demands, is desirable.
Mention should be made of a hive of quite different construction, a
prominent feature of which is this ease of contraction and expansion.
It is the last hive which the late M. Quinby gave to the public--the
Quinby closed-end frame hive (fig. 6). This hive is used with great
success by certain American bee keepers of long experience and whose
apiaries are among the largest in the world.
[Illustration: Fig. 6.--Quinby closed-end frames.]