380 
FRAMES 
thick-top frame came to be almost univer¬ 
sal. After, the top-bars were made strong¬ 
er and heavier, the end-bars as Avell as the 
bottom-bars were made thicker and wider. 
The natural result of all this was a strong¬ 
er and more serviceable frame. 
Before proceeding further it will be in 
order to define precisely what is meant by 
burr-combs and brace-combs. The former 
refers to those pieces of comb that were 
built in the olden days lengthwise and 
crosswise of the top-bars between the hive 
and the super or between the two sets of 
frames when the queen occupies both 
stories. Brace-combs refer to the strips of 
comb built between the top-bars. Burr- 
combs were much more troublesome. While 
the thickness and width of the top-bar are 
both important in the elimination of these 
troublesome combs, the width has more to 
do with their eradication than the thick¬ 
ness. A top-bar V/g wide and % thick, 
provided the top-bar does not sag, will al¬ 
most eliminate burr-combs but not quite. 
If the top-bar sags, as will happen in the 
case of any top-bar less than % thick and 
as long as the Langstroth, it increases the 
bee-space to a point where bees will build 
burr-combs. To prevent sagging, the top- 
bar should not be less than % inch. As 
the 7 /g or, more properly, the 13/16 top- 
bar can be made just as cheaply, it has 
been thought to be more practicable to use 
the combination of a thick and wide top- 
bar 1 1/16 wide by 13/16 thick. 
In this connection it should be stated 
that the thin top-bar will not eliminate 
brace-combs; but one 13/16 thick will do 
so most effectually. 
Before the advent of thick and wide 
bars it was necessary to use a broad-bladed 
putty knife, or a common hoe or trowel to 
scrape the burr-combs from the frames 
every year, and sometimes two or three 
times a year. During the height of a 
honey flow, whenever a super or upper 
story was rempved it was necessary to 
break these attachments between the upper 
and lower stories—not an easy job, by the 
way. Each time there would be a lot of 
bleeding or dripping honey all over the 
bees, combs, and clothing, to say nothing 
of stings and of the hands being smeared 
with honey. Practically all modern bee¬ 
hive factories are now furnishing almost 
exclusively to their trade thick and wide 
top-bar frames. 
After the thick top was introduced it 
was impracticable to use vertical wiring 
that had been used with the old % by % 
thin top-bars. Horizontal wiring was then 
introduced. (See Comb Foundation, sub¬ 
head wiring frames.) At the time thick 
top-bars were introduced in the early 90’s, 
comb honey was produced much more gen¬ 
erally than within the last four or five 
years. It was a great advantage to get 
away from the burr and brace combs so 
troublesome between the brood-nest proper 
and the super containing sections. It is 
not at all strange that the beekeeper, when 
he bought new equipment, would purchase 
that which would relieve him from this 
nuisance. In later years the tendency of 
the beekeeping world has been toward the 
production of extracted honey. This was 
particularly accentuated during the period 
of the World War, 1914-1918. 
Along about that time came a general 
call for a frame that would have more 
brood to the comb. (See Comb Founda¬ 
tion, subhead wiring frames.) As a good 
queen can more than fill an eight or ten 
frame Langstroth hiv ( e, it has become nec¬ 
essary to raise brood in the two stories. At 
the end of the heavy breeding period the 
brood-nest is reduced to one hive. It has 
been discovered that the queen will go into 
the second story more readily where thin 
narrow top-bars are used and brace-combs 
are built in between. Notwithstanding this 
is true, the beekeeping fraternity prefers 
to avoid the nuisance of burr-combs, and 
therefore continues to use thick-top frames. 
If any change at all is made it will be along 
the line of the reduction of the thickness, 
leaving the width 1 1/16 as now. This is 
a matter, however, for the future to deter¬ 
mine. 
Wh ether a frame should be made rever¬ 
sible is discussed under the head of Re¬ 
versing. Whether a frame should have 
the end-bars come in contact the entire 
length or only part way, or whether they 
should stand rather than hang, is discussed 
in the next subject. 
FRAMES, SELF-SPACING.— By these 
are meant frames held at certain regular 
distances apart by some sort of spacing 
