CONSTRUCTION OF HIVES. 



45 



this story for frames to make the front and rear double-walled. This 

 is easily done by tacking on the inside of each end two half- inch strips, 

 on which a half-inch board is then nailed. These inside end pieces 

 should be only wide enough to reach within three-fourths inch of the 

 top edge of the outer ends, and, like the lower story, should be finished 

 at the top with a metal rabbet for the frames to rest on, or the inside 

 piece may be made to come within three-eighths inch of the top and its 

 upper edge beveled so the frames can not be greatly propolized, an 

 arrangement which answers very well for this story. 



As to the width of hives and consequent number of frames each 

 story is to hold, there has been of late much diversity of opinion. 

 The original Langs troth hive held ten frames in the lower story and 



FIG. 29. The Langstroth hive Dadant-Quiiiby form cross section showing construction. 



(From Langstroth.) 



eleven frames in the second or top story. A demand for smaller-sized 

 brood chambers and uniformity of the stories having been created, the 

 larger hive- manufacturing establishments gave hives constructed to 

 hold eight frames the most prominent place in their catalogues, and 

 by many it was considered that those who adhered to the older, larger 

 form did so merely through conservatism. But after some years' trial 

 a reaction in favor of larger hives seems to have set in, especially 

 among producers of extracted honey. Many of the latter are finding 

 that with carefully bred queens even twelve frame brood apartments 

 give the best results. The author's experience of over twenty-five years 

 with frame hives of various sizes and styles, both American and foreign, 

 in widely differing climates, convinces him that to restrict a hive to 

 a capacity of less than ten frames for the brood chamber is, in most 

 3407 No. 105 4 



