456 
HIVES, EVOLUTION OF 
early as 1652, and these were gradually the use of these that he was able to make 
improved by various inventors. the discoveries in apiculture which so as- 
Maraldi, about the same era as Mewe, tonished and delighted the scientific world 
invented a single-comb observation hive (see Fig. 2). Huber invented these hives 
made with glass sides, which contained the about 1789, or perhaps a little earlier. It 
germ of the movable-comb frame. He al- has been contended by some writers that 
lowed too much space for one comb, and Huber’s hive was not practical; but some 
frequently the bees built their combs cross¬ 
wise. Still there was in the Maraldi hive 
the important advantage of handling one 
comb at a time, and by' this means to get 
a far better conception of what was going 
on inside the hive. Huber extended this 
idea by his improvement, Fig. 1, which 
came very near to the hanging movable 
of the most practical beekeepers the world 
has yet produced used modified Huber 
hives, notably Quinby and Hetherington, 
beekeepers of New York State, whose 
names are revered by American beekeep¬ 
ers. 
An examination of the illustrations of 
Huber’s hive makes it plain that he had a 
Fig- 3. Huber hive, showing how he artificially increased the number 
of his colonies. E, E, E are entrance holes .—From Cheshire. 
frame invented by Langstroth 60 years 
later. 
To Huber belongs the credit of inventing 
hives with movable frames,* and it was by 
* This honor is usually ascribed to Langstroth, for, 
indeed, he was the first one to invent an all-round 
practical hive and frame—a frame that provided a 
hee-space all around it; but he did not invent the 
first movable frame (see Frames) , 
clear idea of what was required in a hive 
for practical purposes. Fig. 3 shows how 
he increased his apiary by artificial means. 
In this case he divided a strong colony by 
slipping a board between the frames, there¬ 
by splitting it in two. His plan of pro¬ 
viding a part of each frame for surplus 
honey (Fig. 2) is excellent. Thus it is evi- 
