A BEGINNER’S EQUIPMENT 19 
A Beginner’s Equipment.—Hives of the Langstroth dimen- 
sions are now almost universally recommended, because of the 
fact that they are everywhere standard. Hives of other patterns 
may be equally good for practical service, but the purchase of 
supplies may be difficult, bees offered for sale in them may bring 
much less because of the fact that the buyer will want them in 
standard hives, and similar reasons. Supplies for the standard 
hives can be secured almost anywhere, and bees in such hives 
are usually saleable in localities where bees can be sold at all. 
On the other hand, there is a decided difference of opinion 
as to the size of hive. In many cases the eight-frame hive has 
been selected, only to prove too small. This small hive body, 
which is largely oceupied for brood-rearing, is too small to accom- 
modate a vigorous queen, and forces much of the honey into the 
supers during the honey flow, with the result that in many locali- 
ties, where the flows are short and rapid, insufficient honey re- 
mains in the broad chamber for wintering. In the hands of inex- 
perienced persons many bees are lost from lack of stores. The 
necessity of feeding at the close of the honey flow requires a lot 
of work and is not always agreeable, as the author has found 
by experience. While many persons have changed from the 
eight-frame to the ten-frame size, but few successful bee-keepers 
have changed from the ten-frame to the smaller size. In some 
localities, hives of this pattern as large as twelve-frame are in 
use. Most of the successful men prefer the ten-frame, and it 
would seem to meet the requirements of a greater number than 
any other size. In few localities does the eight-frame hive seem 
to be suited to conditions. Seldom does one find an experienced 
man working with hives of other patterns but who is free to say 
that they have been a source of annoyance, to say the least. Of 
course if one is situated where some other hive is in almost 
universal use, the advantage of having equipment similar to that 
in general use would be an item not to be overlooked. The 
Dadant hive has some advantages over the Langstroth hive, espe- 
cially for extracted honey production, This is the standard hive 
