FRAMES 
379 
but also a bee-space between each and all 
of the frames. It is just as important to 
have every frame separable from its neigh¬ 
bor as separable from the hive. This he 
accomplished very nicely by making the 
top-bar of his frame long enough to have 
a projection at each end. These projec¬ 
tions as a means of support were made to 
rest in rabbets in the upper edge of the 
ends of the hive. (See Hives and ABC 
of Beekeeping) Langstroth, therefore 
went ahead of his predecessors in two im¬ 
portant points—in providing a bee-space 
and in giving a means of support so that 
the frames would not be glued fast to each 
other nor to the hive. His predecessors, 
as will be seen by a perusal of Hives, Evo¬ 
lution of, made their frames close-fitting, 
like drawers in a bureau, and each frame 
came in contact with its neighbor. (See the 
Huber hive under Hives, Evolution of.) 
These early devices, perhaps, would have 
been all right had it not been for three 
things—the ever present bee glue sticking 
everything fast with which it came in con¬ 
tact, the crushing of the bees whenever 
parts of the frames came together, and the 
shrinking and swelling of the parts mak¬ 
ing the frame anything but movable. A 
few crushed bees, many of them squeal¬ 
ing with pain, will infuriate a whole col¬ 
ony; and it is no wonder that our fore¬ 
fathers resorted to the use of brimstone 
and refused to accept the so-called mov¬ 
able frames that were invented before 
Langstroth. The so-called movable combs 
of Dzierzon made it necessary to cut every 
comb loose. This process necessarily 
caused a great deal of dripping honey. 
During a dearth of nectar this would cause 
robbing. "(See Robbing.) When, there¬ 
fore, Langstroth by his great invention of 
a really movable frame demonstrated that 
he could make every comb movable—that 
he could take the hive all apart without 
killing a bee and without receiving a sting 
—he revolutionized for all times the meth¬ 
ods for handling bees. While bees always 
will sting, and do sting, yet it is now pos¬ 
sible, under favorable conditions and with 
proper use of smoke, to open and examine 
a Langstroth hive without receiving a sting. 
See Manipulation of Colonies; also see 
Stings. 
The various crude attempts to make 
combs movable are set forth under the head 
of Hives, Evolution of. The methods of 
adjusting modern Langstroth frames in 
modern Langstroth hives are described un¬ 
der Hives and A B C of Beekeeping. 
Langstroth desired to bring out a frame 
that would be really movable, and in doing 
so went to the limit. His frames had no 
point of contact with each other. They 
were simply hung or suspended in the hive- 
rabbet. They often hung out of true, and? 
worse still, were often badly spaced; but 
in spite of all this, many beekeepers prefer 
the principle today. There are others who 
consider it an advantage to have projec¬ 
tions on the frames, such projections being 
a half bee-space beyond the comb. These 
self-spacers will always hang true and the 
proper distance apart. (See Spacing 
Frames.) The advantages of these self- 
spacing frames are shown in the article on 
Frames, Self-spacing. 
SIZE AND SHAPE OF FRAMES. 
There has been endless discussion as to 
the best size of frames. Some prefer one 
that is square—approximately a foot wide 
and a foot deep. Others consider 12 inches 
too great a depth, and prefer to have the 
extra comb area extend laterally. A great 
majority of modern beekeepers prefer to¬ 
day a frame longer than deep, such as we 
find in the Langstroth dimensions. As the 
dimensions of the frame determine the size 
and shape of the hive itself, a further con¬ 
sideration of the subject will be found un¬ 
der Hives. 
THICK-TOP FRAMES. 
In the early 90’s the thick-top frame 
was introduced to the public; but some 
years prior to that time J. B. Hall, then 
of Woodstock, Ontario, Can., had been 
using frames with top-bars 1 inch wide 
by % inch thick. Soon after he began 
using them he discovered that the tops of 
these frames were free from burr-combs. 
Likewise there were no brace-combs be¬ 
tween the frames. He made his top-bars 
thick, he said, not because of the burr or 
brace comb nuisance, but because he de¬ 
sired to prevent their sagging. It was not 
long after that Dr. C. C. Miller called the 
attention of the beekeeping world to Hall’s 
discovery, and in a very few years the 
