HIVES 
443 
tion of beekeepers. It embodied in the 
main the Langstroth dimensions, but used 
eight instead of ten frames; for at the 
time it was introduced, nearly every one 
preferred eight frames. The original Dove¬ 
tailed hive had a flat cover, and a bottom- 
board made the same as the cover, except 
that there were side-cleats to raise the hive 
off the bottom-board. 
Since that time there have been modifica¬ 
tions of the hive, and it is now made in 
eight, ten, and twelve frame sizes. While 
the eight was used almost exclusively, the 
ten-frame size has nearly supplanted it. 
There is also a tendency toward tfle twelve- 
frame size. See the Twelve-frame Hive 
further on in this article. 
The cover is made single or double. The 
body is locked at the corners, and the bot¬ 
tom-board is made in several styles. See 
Entrances. 
The Hoffman self-spacing frames, de¬ 
scribed under Frames, Self-spacing, and 
Frames, to Manipulate, also Frames, are 
used in the Dovetailed hive almost exclu¬ 
sively. The supers for this hive are the 
same as those shown under Comb Honey. 
As now constructed the hive embodies 
the very latest developments in hives and 
hive is a good cover. While the flat cover 
—one making use of one flat board and 
two cleats—was a good one, yet, owing to 
the width of the single board, and increas¬ 
ing scarcity of such lumber, something 
made of two or three narrow boards had to 
Excelsior flat cover. 
be used. Accordingly, the Excelsior was 
devised. It consists of boards not exceed¬ 
ing 6 inches in width, because narrow 
boards can be easily secured, and because 
they will not shrink and check under the 
influence of the weather like the wide ones. 
The two side boards, B, B, are beveled or 
chamfered on one side so that the one edge 
is left only about three-fourths the thick¬ 
ness of the other edge, but the ends are left 
full thickness of the boards to shed water 
Flat cover, old style. 
hive-construction. It can be handled rap¬ 
idly, and is especially adapted for out- 
apiary work, where frequent moving from 
one field to another is necessary. It is 
standard, being made by all the supply¬ 
manufacturing concerns, and is for sale 
everywhere. The lock corner is especially 
well adapted for hot climates; and for any 
place it is far superior to corners depend¬ 
ing on nails alone. The ordinary miter or 
halved joint is inclined to pull apart in 
parts of California, Texas, Florida, and 
other portions of our country subject to 
extremes of heat, or hot dry winds. 
Having discussed hives in a general way, 
it will now be in order to take up covers. 
A very important requisite of a good 
away from the edge and to give more nail- 
room for the grooved end-cleats, E, that 
slip over and bind the whole together. The 
purpose of the chamfering is to shed water 
to the sides of the hive and away from the 
centerpiece, AD. Of this centerpiece, AD, 
