thousand answers 
101 
Q. Which frame do* you think is the better, the Hoffman or 
loose-top, staple-spaced frame, and which is the easier to 
handle? What frame do you use, also what size section or ex- 
tracting-frame ? 
A. Preferences differ. Some like the Hoffman, and others 
would not have it around, because the bees glue the frames to- 
gether, making them harder to handle than the other kinds of 
frames. With the metal spacers latterly used on the Hoffman, 
it is not so objectionable. 
I use the Miller frame, which is a plain Langstroth frame with 
common galvanized shingle nails for side-spacers and small sta- 
ples for end-spacers. I use the same for an extracting-frame, 
although if I were going extensively into extracting I would 
likely have a shallower frame. I use the section most generally 
in use, 2-bee-way., 4%x4%xV^ 
Q. Using plain frames, how do you manage to keep them 
from swinging and -killing the bees when hauling over rough 
roads ? 
A. In the same sense you seem to mean, I don’t use plain 
frames. Nothing can be plainer than the Miller frame, except 
that there are common nails, as I have often explained, used as 
side-spacers, and staples as end-spacers. Nothing is needed at 
any time to prepare the bees for hauling, except to close the en- 
trance with wire-cloth. 
Q. Would there be trouble with frames made short enough 
so that there would be a half-inch beespace between the end- 
bars and the inside of the hive? I have trouble with the standard 
frame on account of smashing bees. Would the bees fill the 
space between the end-bars and hive-ends with comb? I use the 
staple-spaced frame. 
A. You would be badly troubled with combs built in such a 
large space; at least in some cases. Possibly you might like W. 
L Coggshall’s plan. Drive staples into end-bars at the lower end, 
so the end-bars cannot crowd against the end-wall of the hive. 
Q. In an answer to “Virginia,” you tell him to use the wedges 
that come with the frames. I makfi my frames. Please explain 
how to make or get them, and how to use them. 
A. A saw-kerf is made in the under side of the top-bar, into 
which the edge of the foundation goes. Then close beside this is 
another saw-kerf made by a finer saw, and into this narrower 
kerf the wedge is crowded. The wedge is a thin strip of wood 
as long as the under side of the top-bar, one side being cham- 
fered down to an edge, so as to enter the kerf. If you make your 
