FRAMES, SELF-SPACING 
383 
pins make a very small line of contact, 
whereas the ordinary standing closed-end 
frame resting on tins secured to the bot¬ 
tom edge at the ends of the hive will crush 
a good many bees. The pins have the fur¬ 
ther advantage that, if there is any reduc¬ 
tion in the depth of the hive due to shrink¬ 
age, the bee-space above and below the 
frames will be affected only half as much 
as if the frame were standing. These 
frames have practically gone out of use. 
IMPROVED HOFFMAN FRAMES. 
This is a modification of the original 
frame used by Julius Hoffman, then of 
Canajoharie, N. Y. The top-bars as well 
as end-bars had projecting edges at the 
ends; but as he used a special hive with¬ 
out a bee-space at the top, that construc¬ 
tion was perfectly practicable. When the 
Hoffman-frame principle was applied to 
the regular Langstroth hive, with a bee- 
space on top, it was found that closed top- 
bars at the ends were impracticable because 
the bees went on top of the frames and 
glued the tops together and to the rabbets. 
In the Hoffman hives the bees were shut 
out from the tops, and, of course, could 
not stick the parts together. The modern 
Hoffman frames are, therefore, made hav¬ 
ing only the end-bars wide at the top. This 
greatly facilitates rapid handling, and pre¬ 
serves at the same time the essential feature 
of the original Hoffman by which it was 
possible to handle numbers of frames in 
lots of two, three, and four at a time, or 
space them all at one operation against the 
hive side. While the act may kill some 
bees, yet this can be avoided by blowing 
smoke down between the end-bars, and 
shoving the frames all together. In this 
respect the modified Hoffman has the great 
advantage over the original frame. This 
will be shown more clearly under Frames 
and Manipulation of Colonies. 
Another feature of this frame is the end¬ 
spacing staple that abuts against the tin 
rabbet shown at 6, in the cut. The ends of 
the top-bars are cut off so as to leave a 
bee-space around them. With the o'ld-style 
frames the bees would sometimes glue the 
ends of the top-bars to the rabbet. This 
objectionable feature has been overcome in 
the style shown. 
When the top-bar is long enough to 
reach and almost come in contact with the 
ends of the rabbets, the bees would chink 
in bee glue between the ends of the top- 
bars and the rabbets. After the ends of 
all the frames have been thus glued, it is 
somewhat difficult to remove any one comb, 
because the fastening of each frame must 
be loosened before the comb sought can be 
lifted out; but when the top-bar is short¬ 
ened, as at 6 in the illustration, and the 
staple is used, there is none of this kind of 
gluing, the only fastening being that be¬ 
tween the upright edges of the end-bars 
themselves; and this fastening, for the ma¬ 
jority of localities, so far from being a 
disadvantage, is useful in that it holds the 
frames together while the hives are being 
moved, and yet does not hold them so as to 
prevent easy handling. 
The Hoffman is the most extensively 
used self-spacing frame in all the United 
States, and there is even a possibility that 
it is used more generally than any other 
frame whether spaced or unspaced. Most 
of the hive manufacturers supply it as a 
part of the regular equipment of their 
standard hives. 
For details concerning its use, see 
Frames and Manipulation of Colonies. 
METAL-SPAOED HOFFMAN FRAMES. 
All that has been said in favor of the 
regular Hoffman will apply with equal 
force to the metal-spaced frame here 
shown. In some localities where propolis 
is very abundant, sticky, or hard, the 
