184 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



ordinary Langstroth and the Hoffman 

 frame, this article should prove most 

 profitable and interesting-. Mr. Stachel- 

 hausen says: — 



Years ago nearlj' all American bee- 

 keepers, among- them "Novice," now 

 the senior member of the A. I. Root Co., 

 were opposed to all kinds of self-spac- 

 ing frames, especially closed ends and 

 half closed end frames were estimated 

 as a nuisance. The old Huber leaf 

 hive, having closed end frames, was 

 said to be no practical hive and Lang- 

 stroth was praised as the inventor of 

 the first practical frame-hive, because 

 his frames could not be propoHsed to- 

 gether. Baron Von Berlepsch in Ger- 

 many invented his hive at the same 

 time as Langstroth, using a frame very 

 similar to the Hoftman frame. For 

 this reason it was said that the hive is 

 not practical, because these frames are 

 sometimes glued together in such a 

 degree that rather the wood would 

 break than the propolis. Loose hang- 

 ing frames were used generall}', but 

 they have the disadvantage that accu- 

 rate spacing takes some time and that 

 they may slip from their proper place 

 when the bee-keeper may not notice it. 

 When a colony shall be moved even a 

 short distance the frames must be 

 fastened in some way. Otherwise it 

 was not disputed that these frames 

 were easiest to handle, when a proper 

 bee space all around were secured. To 

 overcome these disadvantages the sim- 

 plest way is, to let the frame-ends rest 

 in shallow notches on the rabbet. 

 This was recommended many times 

 and different devices of this kind were 

 invented, but most bee-keepers were of 

 the opinion that they could get along 

 without it, and considered it a useless 

 expense in the hive. 



I have used such rabbets 24 or 2i> 

 years; they are made of tin strips, the 

 notches are cut one-quarter inch deep, 

 and by the help of a little machine the 

 places where the frames rest are bent 

 back to the tin strip, and hammered 

 down where the spaces are not. 

 These tin strips are nailed to the 

 wooden rabbets. If a frame is lifted 

 one-quarter inch only, it can be pushed 

 away from the neighboring frame, and 

 so enough space is secured to lift out 

 any frame in the same way as with the 

 loose hanging frame. I use such rab- 

 bets in my shallow stories which are 

 Sy^ inches high only; in them the 

 frames are fixed sufficiently even for 



transportation from one apiary to an- 

 other eight or ten miles over rough 

 roads. If anybody uses frames nine 

 inches high, or still higher, the spac- 

 ing of the frames at the bottom bars 

 may be not regular enough, and the 

 frames may swing too much during 

 transportation. For this reason a 

 spacer of some kind may be necessary 

 at this place. I do not use such frames 

 any more and do not like them. 



As I have explained, it was the gen- 

 eral opinion that all self-spacing 

 frames were not practical, when Hed- 

 don made public the invention of his 

 divisible brood-chamber hive with 

 closed end frames. He was the first 

 one who went back to this old style 

 frame, but he said expressly that his 

 hive was constructed to be handled 

 mostly by stories and not by frames. 

 The A. I. Root Co. made, during one 

 year, similar frames of the I.«angstroth 

 size, but the next year they boomed the 

 so-called Hoffman frame, which is 

 nothing else than the Berlepsch frame, 

 and as old as the Langstroth hive. 

 For Berlepsch, a self-spacing frame 

 was necessary in his side opening hive. 

 The same frame was tried in the 

 United States, but for hives with open 

 tops they found no admirers. This 

 frame was used by G. Dathe (1856, I 

 think), who used nails with large 

 heads for spacers. Since this time the 

 Dathe frames, or similar ones, are 

 used exclusively in Germany, and the 

 Berlepsch frames abandoned. 



When the Hoffman frame was ac- 

 cepted and patronized b}' the A. I. 

 Root Co., everj' bee-keeper who raised 

 the objection that such frames were 

 glued together and difticnlt to handle 

 received the answer from the editor, E. 

 R. Root, that he certainly had not tried 

 them sufficiently to speak in the 

 case. Even this disadvantage of pro- 

 polisation was reversed to an advan- 

 tage, saying these frames could be 

 handled by two or three without getting 

 separated. I have tried such hives of 

 the Langstroth size, and have still 

 some in my home yard. If I have to 

 handle such hives I am always very 

 glad if I have lifted out the first frame 

 or the division board without breaking 

 it to pieces. To lift out two at once, 

 or push four or five together from one 

 side of the hive to the other, has 

 always been out of question. 



If we read the different bee journals 

 we may think everybody is using these 

 Hoffman frames, and in fact they are 

 in fashion now, and all the younger 



