19 
are, however, spiteful under manipulation, and have the disagreeable 
habit of running from the combs and dropping in bunches on the 
ground, likewise of flying from the hive entrance and attacking pass 
ers-by. They are more easily discouraged than other bees during 
slack times as regards honey production, and this is doubtless the main 
reason for their generally inferior economic value. 
WHAT HIVE TO ADOPT. 
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 Lang- 
stroth 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 principie 
in use is probably even greater, 
scarcely any other frame hives be- 
ing employed. 
The success of American bee culture in 
the last twenty years was first attributed by 
European bee keepers to the honey-pro- 
ducing power of the country; but the most 
intelligent apiarists who haye tried the 
American methods with the Langstroth 
hive now recognize that success is princi- 
pally 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 Interna- 
tionale d’Apiculture’’ (Switzerland), Sep- 
tember, 1885, edited by Edouard Bertrand. ) 
There being no patent on the Lang- Fic. 4.—Langstroth hive with two half-depth 
: supers for surplus honey. 
stroth 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 begin- 
ner 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, asa 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 work- 
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