26 



Beekeeping 



Hive stands. 



The arrangement of the hives will determine the character 

 of the stand. A wooden frame, bricks, tile (Fig. 20), con- 

 crete blocks or flat stones are equally 

 good to raise the bottom board of the 

 hive above the ground so that it will 

 not rot. It is sufficient to raise it only 

 a few inches to allow air to circulate 

 freely under the bottom. In a perma- 

 nent apiary, it is convenient to arrange 

 the hive stands in the desired order 

 and to number them by the system 

 used in numbering the colonies for pur- 

 poses of record. 



Hives and hive parts. 



FIG. 20. Ten-frame 

 Langstroth hive 

 with queen-ex- 

 cluder, comb-honey 

 super and telescope 

 cover. 



The hive which opens at the top and 

 in which the combs are built in freely 

 movable frames is the one generally 

 used in America. It was invented by 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth, the Father of 

 American beekeeping, in 1851. From 

 this date, the development of modern beekeeping begins. 

 The original Langstroth hive has been somewhat modified as 

 the result of the experience of later years, but as now used 

 (Fig. 20) it consists of a plain wooden box holding frames 

 hung from a rabbet at the top (Fig. 21) and which do not 

 touch the sides, top or bottom. The box is usually dove- 

 tailed and is commonly made of white pine dressed to | inch. 

 The greatest advance of the Langstroth hive is not so 

 much in the movable frames as in the free space (Fig. 21) 

 all about them. The size of this space is of the greatest 

 importance, it being such that bees pass through it freely 

 but do not build wax nor deposit propolis in it. The manu- 

 facturers of beekeepers' supplies make this space a quarter 

 of an inch. 



